Bently McQuinn Saves Literature
by IcamaneHatake
Summary: When Stephanie Meyer tries to destory the world of literature, who can save the books but Bently McQuinn? Sequel to Reading Between the Lines, NaNo Project 2010
1. Prologue

"Edward's dead?"

"I'm afraid so, Bella, darling."

Bella's brown eyes started to well up with tears and in moments, she was bawling. "M-m-m-mommie! You said he would b-b-b-be fine!"

'_I knew I shouldn't have made her so emotional…_' Stephanie thought. "The Potter characters called upon an outsider, and I didn't think he could do it, but he killed Edward. I'm sorry, Bella."

Bella sniffled, brushing her brown hair off her pale white skin. She was so much… _more _as a vampire. But, that had it's downsides, along with it's perks. Still, Stephanie was glad she had finally made Bella a vampire in the last book.

"Are we still going through with the plan?" a deeper voice asked, and in strode Jasper, light hair flyaway on his head as usual.

"Yes," replied Stephanie, smirking slightly. '_Soon, I'll show them all,_' she thought. '_Soon, no one will ever doubt Stephanie Meyer. Soon, everyone will see how great I really am._'

"Are the portals ready?" asked Esme, now entering the room too.

Stephanie nodded her head over to her laptop, which sat on a counter. "The post is ready. Once it's on my site and girls start writing, they'll start to open."

"Wonderful," Esme said, rubbing her hands together in delight. Stephanie walked back over to the computer to read over the post one more time. She read:

**ATTENTION ALL FANS!**

_Hello all you lovely readers out there! _

_I've wanted for years to run a contest for my books, ever since I found out about fanfiction. I've dearly wanted to see what your wonderful minds can come up with, and finally, here's your chance to get your name out there!_

_Bellow is a list of books. The challenge is for you to write a 2,000 word story about a Twilight character in one of these books. Which ever works I judge to be the best shall receive signed copies of the Twilight Saga, and a chance to have your work published on my website with my endorsements. It's a big task, but I think you can do it!_

_The deadline is in a month, so be sure to get your entry in on time!_

_Love,_

_Stephanie_

Stephanie smirked. This would surely ensnare a lot of young girls into opening the literary portals. She added the list of books to the post, and clicked submit. Within half an hour, glowing portals began to appear in the room, and her vampires prepared to depart to her targeted books.

"Let's see them try to stop me this time."

* * *

**Welcome everyone, to the reason I didn't update anything in November.**

**This story is not too serious, and not too offensive... I hope you enjoy it.**

**Finally, not only is this a Harry Potter and Twilight crossover, it is a crossover of many, many different books. I will credit them all at the end. **

**Enjoy, read, love, and review much!  
~Icamane**


	2. Get Back to Hogwarts

"Bently McQuinn, get your head out of that book and _pay attention!_"

Bently snapped his head up, caught completely off-guard. Moments ago, his head had been in the Forbidden Forest on the ground of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, following Harry Potter trying to find an injured unicorn. And now, as he looked up into the stern face of his science teacher Mrs. Grist, he was sitting in his seat at the back of her classroom, with nearly everyone in the class snickering at him before turning back to the board of complicated physics notes.

"Sorry, Mrs. Grist," he mumbled, and placed the bookmark between the pages.

"This is the third time this week, McQuinn! Lunch detention, today, and if I see that book out again, it'll be for a week."

More snickering. Bently put the book away, pulled out his notes and began copying down the nonsense on the board. Bently's friend Russell tried to give him a sympathetic look, but Bently ignored him. He knew Russell didn't really understand.

Bently's mind wandered as he took notes silently. He couldn't help it. Ever since the dream, he just couldn't stop reading Harry Potter. He wanted to make sure everything would be okay, that no more crazy shit would go down at Hogwarts. Months earlier, Bently had had a very, very strange dream. He dreamt that he himself was at Hogwarts, but at the same time, it wasn't Hogwarts. Twilight fans had taken over, and Neville Longbottom and Pansy Parkinson had sent him on a quest to find and kill Edward Cullen, the Fairy Lord. It had been a wonderful dream, and so… _real._ It sounded crazy, and maybe he was, but Bently had a feeling that it was more than a dream, that it had actually happened. It was absurd, but so were a lot of things in life.

"Bent, time to go!"

Russell was throwing his backpack over his shoulder, urging Bently to come with him. Bently scrambled to put his notes away and ran out the door to join his friend, eager to leave for gym.

"Dude, you really gotta quit reading in that class," Russell said, amused. "Mrs. Grist is going to kill you some day if you don't."

"I can't help it!" Bently said defensively. "You know I can't stop reading ever since… the dream."

"Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that."

"But it's true!"

"Bent, it was just a dream."

"Then it was a pretty real one. I just get this feeling like I need to keep on the watch, to make sure nothing else bad happens."

Russell rolled his eyes. "Come on Bently, you know nothing will happen. Once a book's published, it _stays_ like that. There's no _changing _it. And no, fanfiction doesn't count."

They were now dumping their bags in the locker room, pulling out their shorts and gym shirts.

"You just don't get it."

"Whatever, man."

All throughout gym, Bently had an odd feeling that something wasn't right. His eyes kept getting drawn over to the crowd of girls who were on the other side of the gym, doing jump rope exercises. He couldn't look for long (people might get the wrong idea), but he thought he saw a new girl that no one had bothered introducing. She had a very serious look on her face, her brown hair was drawn up in a ponytail, and she seemed vaguely familiar. But Bently didn't have much time to think about where he knew her from, because he was dealing with problems of his own. It was down to himself, Aidan Hodges, (an extremely nerdy kid) and Carl Rothberg (a druggie) to be picked for the dodge ball teams. The captains were picking.

"I'll take Rothberg," said Landon Vance, and Carl joined that team. Now it was Bently and Aidan, and it was Russell's team's turn to pick.

"Aidan, I guess," said Robert Downs after some careful consideration.

"That's not fair! I don't want to be stuck with the Fairy Boy!" called out Landon angrily.

"Well, I don't want him either!" Robert yelled back.

Bently shot Russell a look that said, "Come on, man."

Russell spoke up. "Hey, Robert, Bent can just play with us…"

Robert rounded on him angrily. "Shut up Russell, this is my team, not yours."

"Boys, stop arguing!" shouted Coach Dunbar. "Bently, just join Robert's team and let's play!"

Grumbling, Robert lead his team over to their assigned wall and began giving a strategy to all of the team except Bently and Russell, who stood to the side. The strategy mainly consisted of, "Just stay out of my way, unless there's a ball coming towards me, then you'd better not let me get out."

"Sorry Russell," Bently said, bending over to tie his shoelace tighter.

"It's alright Bent, it's not your fault Robert's an asshole."

Gym couldn't have passed faster. Usually Bently could have avoided people like Robert and Landon by running on the track, but it was raining outside. Still, Bently just ran around and threw balls when he could. He even got a few people out, and Robert didn't say anything more to him. He had all but forgotten about the new girl until after the game, when he was headed back over to the locker room. One girl was sitting out, and she was reading a book with an unmistakable black cover; _Twilight_. Bently snorted at her as he passed. She evidently had heard him, because she snapped the book shut and stood up a bit shakily.

"You got a problem with Twilight?" she asked, irritated.

"Other than the fact that it's an awful series? Not at all," Bently replied sarcastically.

"Everyone knows you hate them, so just leave them alone, Bently! What did gorgeous vampires ever do to you?"

"They took over Hogwarts, that's what."

"What's going on, Michelle?"

A group of girls now approached, evidently Michelle's friends. The one who had spoken Bently recognized as Ricci.

Michelle just glared at Bently. "The stupid Fairy Boy is making fun of Twilight again."

Ricci's face turned red. "You keep your face shut, Bently. Stephanie Meyer is a goddess!"

"Yeah!" added in another girl. "She's giving us all the chance to be famous on her website!"

"I don't care, and I highly doubt it," Bently retorted, but he knew immediately that was the wrong thing to say. They started closing in on him, murder in their eyes.

"_Obliviate!_"

The girls eye's all went blank and they sort of toddled away. Bently was very confused. He had just heard a spell from a Harry Potter book, and he thought he had just seen it work. When they were gone, he found the new girl standing there, a wooden wand pointed at him.

"Pansy Parkinson."

There was no denying it now. Pansy Parkinson, the first Potter character he had recognized in his dream, was standing right there in front of him. She blinked a few times.

"You recognize me?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's kind of hard not to," Bently stated. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were… imaginary."

"Not exactly," Pansy said, rushed. "But I'll explain later, we need to get to our Portkey."

"Portkey?" Bently asked as the bell rang for lunch.

"Yes, now _hurry,_" hissed Pansy, and she grabbed his wrist, dragging him towards the door.

"Wait! I need to get changed," Bently insisted, and she rolled her eyes.

"Alright, fine, but do it fast."

So Bently ran into the boy's locker room and changed as fast as possible, slinging his bag over his shoulder and leaving his sweaty gym cloths on the floor. He met back up with Pansy, and they started out of the school.

"So what the hell is going on?" Bently asked as soon as they were out the front doors and away from other people.

"Do you remember your dream?" Pansy asked.

"Of course."

"Well… it wasn't exactly a dream."

"You're mad."

"No, not really. You see, Bently, books are real, as real as I am walking with you… just, the people in your world don't think so."

"What?" Bently asked, completely lost.

"Look, it's hard to explain, I'll let someone else do that, but basically, your dream was real. And now we need your help."

"Who's 'we'?"

"The characters in the books under attack."

"Under attack from _who?_"

"Stephanie Meyer."

Bently stopped in his tracks. "Meyer? _Meyer _is attacking books?"

"Yes. I've been sent to come get you, because honestly, you're the only one who can help. I don't like the idea, but you are."

Bently shook his head. This was crazy.

They were almost to the big tree off school grounds. At the base of the tree, Bently could see an old boot, just like the one Harry Potter had taken to the Quidditch World Cup. "Is that it?" he asked. Pansy just nodded. "How did you get here?"

"The Portals. They're open, thanks to Meyer and the Crazy."

Bently had no idea what kind of portal Pansy could have been talking about. "Like… the portal in the South Park episode about Imagination Land?"

Pansy just gave him a blank look. Bently shook his head. "Never mind then."

They reached the boot. Pansy regarded it with a bit of disgust, but Bently was intrigued. "It's really a Portkey?"

"Yes you idiot, how thick are you?" she asked, irritated. "Now, touch it when I count to three."

"Where will it take us?"

"Just outside the Hogwarts grounds. Then we'll head off to the meeting, and everything will be explained to you, if you can follow."

Bently chose to ignore the last comment. She was, after all, a Slytherin. "Alright, let's go."

"One, two, _three!_"

They both grabbed the boot at the same instant, and Bently felt the sensation of using a Portkey exactly as how it had been described in the books. He was spinning and spinning, thankful he hadn't eaten lunch yet, but he wasn't spinning through the air. He seemed to be spinning through space itself, with flashes of black, purple, yellow, and white all around him. And then it all stopped and he landed solidly on the ground, his knees buckling. He fell face-first into the long, damp grass. And when he looked up, he saw a sight familiar to him; Hogwarts Castle.

"Get up, we don't have a lot of time," urged Pansy, pulling her wand back out. Bently stood up, a bit wobbly, and followed her up the slope towards the castle.

'_What have I gotten myself into?_' Bently asked himself as Pansy pulled open the big oak front doors, and they walked inside.

* * *

**Alright, pretty straight-forward...**

**Reviews?  
~Icamane**


	3. The World Of Literature

The Entrance Hall was almost exactly like it had been in Bently's so-called dream, except that it was empty, and there was the small roar of a crowd coming from the Great Hall.

"Come on," said Pansy, leading him to the doors. "Everyone's waiting for you."

And she pushed open the doors, a small smirk on her face.

The hall went silent as Pansy pushed Bently through the doors. As all the faces turned to look at him, he felt self-conscious. He couldn't really tell the faces apart. But then, from the staff table at the end…

"Welcome, Bently McQuinn. Welcome back to Hogwarts."

It was Neville Longbottom, and he was grinning. The whole hall burst out into cheers, and Bently couldn't help but smile. He walked up between the tables of cheering people to the staff table with Pansy trailing behind him, still smirking. Once he reached Neville, Neville extended his hand over the table to shake Bently's.

"Nice to see you again, Bently."

"Hey Neville! You got my name right!"

"Of course. Please, sit down," Neville said, indicating to two empty seats next to him. On Neville's other side was Ron Weasley, who beamed at Bently as he and Pansy walked around to take their seats.

"Wow, this is… a lot of people," Bently commented when he had sat down and taken a good look at the hall. There certainly were a lot of people, but there were also some animals thrown into the mix as well, most notably a white rabbit and a large lion.

"Hogwarts is one of the last of the great books left safe," Neville said quietly to Bently.

Bently was confused once more. "Alright Neville, what the hell is going on? First Pansy tells me you're all real, and my dream was too, and now I'm back at Hogwarts, and there was something about Stephanie Meyer trying to take over the world in all that."

Neville nodded before raising his arms to the hall. It quieted down. "My friends, our hero has arrived! The fabled one, who slew the Fairy Lord… Bently McQuinn!"

There were more cheers, but they soon faded so Neville could continue.

"Bently… do you know how writers are able to do their craft?"

"Wh—what?" Bently asked, caught off-guard.

Neville just smiled again. "I guess not. Bently, your world is not the only universe out there. Lots of science fiction books talk about parallel universes, but did you know they actually exist?"

Bently was at a complete loss of words. Parallel universes? What the hell?

"These universes find ways to interact with each other, and the most common way is through writers. You know these universes as books and movies, but for our world, my world, those places are very real. But only people from your world with the special gift of writing and imagination can access these books and movies."

"Are you telling me, this is… this is _real?_"

"Indeed I am, Bently. When you first came to Hogwarts, it wasn't by accident. That was Meyer's first attack, and we called upon you to help us. We called you Lightning McQueen in hopes that Meyer wouldn't be able to figure out your real name. To protect you. But, we need you again."

"Wait, attack? What's going on?"

"Bently… Stephanie Meyer is not a real writer. She took the powers of another writer, and accessed an incomplete world. The world whose story she wrote down wasn't completely developed yet, and that resulted in her terrible books. Yet, she gained intense popularity, and now she wants more. Meyer is on a quest to destroy some of the most popular and well-written books of your time in order to be writing master."

"So… she's trying to bring other writers down so she can become more powerful?" Bently asked tentatively.

"Yes, that's exactly what she's doing. She's trying to take over the world… of literature."

Bently sat there for a minute, trying to absorb it all. It didn't really surprise him to find out Meyer was trying to take over the world, but wasn't that a bit extreme?

"What are these 'portals' Pansy was talking about?" he finally asked.

"Ah, the Portals. The Portals are the gateways between the imaginary worlds, as you call them, and the 'real world,' or your world. The more an 'imaginary world' gets written about, the bigger the Portal gets, and the more the two worlds get mixed up together. Take my world for example; in your world, it is the most written about topic for fanfiction ever. Hence, all of the influence my world has in yours. They built a theme park out of it for Merlin's sake." Neville laughed a bit, shaking his head.

"So, does this apply only to people from 'my' world?"

"In a sense. Powerful people from different 'imaginary' worlds can travel between the worlds, just like how good writers in your world can access the imaginary worlds and write about them to make a change in your world."

Bently's head was spinning. This concept of what was real and what was imaginary was very, very confusing.

"But don't worry about it. Once you get used to it, it'll all come naturally. Right now, we need to focus on the task at hand, and that is making sure Meyer can't take over the literary words. Bently… are you in?"

Everyone's eyes seemed to zoom in on Bently. He gulped and nodded strongly. "I'm in."

"Good, then you'll need to know what you're up against." Neville looked out over the hall again. "We'll make our reports now. Jill, Eustace, Lucy, how about you start?"

From the table on Bently's immediate right stood three people, two girls and a boy. They looked a little younger than Bently, maybe around thirteen or fourteen. But he recognized their names, even before the girl with dark hair spoke.

"Well, we're the only ones left from Narnia," Lucy said, a bit timidly. "They've taken Cair Paraval, and there're armies of wolves everywhere."

"Who's taken over?" asked Bently.

"The shape-shifter, Jacob Black," responded the other girl, Jill. "Meyer sent different main characters into different worlds to oversee the take-overs."

"If you get rid of the head vampire, you'll get rid of the rest of them," added Neville.

"Just like what happened when I killed the Fairy Lord," said Bently, mostly to himself.

Lucy nodded. "Yes. But magic is still there, so taking everything back should be alright with a little help."

"Yes… what about you, Farimir and Eowyn?" Neville asked, and a man and woman stood up from the left table. They both wore battle armor. '_Lord of the Rings,_' Bently thought.

"Our need is dire," said Eowyn, the woman. "Minas Tirith is completely taken by the one named Emmett, and our forces are dwindling."

"Wait, who's where?" Bently asked, and immediately, everyone started talking at once.

"_Shut up!_" Pansy yelled over the babbled, and it died instantly. "One at a time!"

"Alice is wrecking our world," said the White Rabbit, who was accompanied by the King of Hearts. "She thinks she is the Queen now."

"One named Jasper is in ours, trying to take over the V.F.D.," said one of a set of triplets, the one who was holding a young child in their arms.

"The Flock is trying to take down Rosalie, but nothing has been successful thus far," said a man with a mustache and glasses, accompanied by a Spanish woman with dark, curly hair.

"That one named Carlisle took over the park, and now the dinosaurs are running even more wild than ever," said a very dusty looking man in almost western wear.

"And his wife, Esme, tricked everyone into thinking she's Mrs. Coulter," said a girl holding a lynx.

"It is 'orrible in ze opera," said a blonde, aging French woman. "Zat one named Bella killed dear little Christine."

"Ours is the worst," said a very short man, who sat by the large lion. "The Wizard himself couldn't even keep out the likes of Meyer. She took over the Emerald City."

There was a general murmur of disapproval through all the characters. The man wearing silver armor yelled, "We can not let this happen again!"

"Wait, again?" Bently asked Neville. "This has happened before?"

Neville nodded gravely. "Yes. Quite a few years ago, a poet by the name of Harrison Dent tried to take over literature in order to make himself more popular."

"I've never heard of him," said Bently.

"Of course you haven't. I got rid of him."

The hall went silent as everyone but a lone man sat down again. He had fading brown hair, glasses, and carried a notepad and pencil under his arm. Bently stared at him, flabbergasted. He couldn't believe who he was seeing.

"S—Stephen King?"

"Yes, I'm here too," King assured the teen, a tired expression on his face. "I'm the one who they called upon last time, and here I am again to assist you. That is, if you _are_ Bently McQuinn."

"But—but—"

"Don't worry, we'll have more time later to discuss my own role." King now turned his attention to Neville. "We need a Portal Jumper."

"Mo is expecting you," replied Neville. "I contacted him while Pansy was fetching Bently."

Silence crept over the hall as everyone looked at Bently. Bently could not help but feel anxious. All these characters—no, people—expected him to help. Killing the Fairy Lord had been difficult enough… was he up to this?

"Bently McQuinn," Neville finally started. "Your task has been presented to you. Will you accept this quest to save literature and defeat Stephanie Meyer and her vampire minions?"

Bently met Neville's eyes. "Yes," he finally said. "Hell yes I will."

The hall broke out into cheers, and Neville grinned. "Very well. Pansy and King will go with you, and before you leave to meet Mo, you need to stop by Dumbledore's office. There are some items there you will find useful for your journey."

Pansy got up and shooed him from the hall along with King. She lead them through the corridors and to the gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office. "Lemon Drop," she said, and it sprang to the side, revealing the staircase. The trio ascended it, not speaking. When they finally make it to the office, it was empty. Not even Fawkes was there. Pansy prodded Bently up to the desk, and he found only three objects on it. "They're all for you," she said grumpily.

The first was a necklace, a medallion of bling; the Horcrux Seeking Medallion. It weakened the vampire's powers, making it possible to kill them. Bently hung it around his neck heavily.

The second item was Gryffindor's Sword, which he had used to kill Edward on his last visit to Hogwarts. There was even some glittery powder left on the blade. Bently tied it carefully around his waist, making sure it wouldn't cut him open unsuspectingly.

And finally, there was a wand on the desk. But it wasn't a wand Bently recognized.

"It's yours," Pansy said, reading his mind. "Mr. Olivander made it specially for you."

Bently nodded, too overcome with wonder to speak. He took the wand in his hand, warmth instantly making his fingers tingle. Smiling, he waved it and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The desk levitated, and Bently set it down after a moment. "This is so sick," he muttered to himself, pocketing his new wand. Then he turned to his new companions. "I'm ready."

"Good," said Pansy. "And so are we." She waved her wand over a book sitting on the floor and said, "Portus!" Nothing seemed to happen to the book, but Pansy looked satisfied. "Alright, on three, everyone touch at the same time."

"One, two, _three!_"

* * *

**Hey look, it's an update.**

**This story will update every Monday from now on until it's done.**

**Reviews are greatly appriciated.**

**~Icamane**


	4. Potential

When everything had stopped spinning and Bently was firmly on his feet, he found himself on the grounds of an old mansion. The trees and bushes were overgrown, creating almost a swamp-like effect. The house itself was of aging brick, with ivy climbing up one section of the front. The only lights that were on were in a big window on the first floor, and all Bently could see inside it were shelves and shelves of books. Before Bently could ask where they were, King was already ringing the doorbell.

"Who in the world is calling at this time of night?" asked a voice, irritated, and the front door opened to reveal an older woman in a nightgown and slippers. She gave quite a start when she saw King, Pansy, and Bently on her doorstep.

"Stephen! Finally you're here!" she said, looking both relieved and displeased. "I see you've brought company. Who are they?"

"Hello Eleanor, short on the fuse as always… this is Pansy Parkinson, a sort of guard, and Bently McQuinn, the new master."

Bently tried not to look confused. Master? Him? Master of _what?_

Eleanor looked him over, a stingant look on her face. "It's _this _boy? Really? Well, I trust your judgment, Stephen, but he doesn't look like much."

"No, he doesn't, but Neville said he was he one they called last time, and that he cleaned house."

Eleanor sighed, and let them in. "Well, I hope he's right."

She led them down a cramped hall and left into a huge library. It was dimly lit, and there were books on every surface imaginable. In the shelves, on the shelves, on other books on the shelves, the tables, most the chairs, on the floor… there was even a stack of books supporting a lamp. It seemed to be an organized mess. And among the mess sat a girl and a man, each with a stack of books next to them and reading one. The man looked up, and his expression brightened.

"Stephen! You've finally made it!" he said, getting up and going to shake King's hand.

King gave him a small half-smile. "They had a bit of trouble finding him, but he's here now. It's been years, hasn't it, Mo?"

"Yes, it has."

The girl now stood too. She was a few years younger than Bently, probably around fourteen, and had light brown, curly hair. Her eyes were brown as well, and she came up to about Bently's nose. It was then that Mo noticed her.

"Oh yes! You never got a chance to meet my daughter, Meggie. Meggie, this is Stephen King, the writer I've told you about. The one who saved everything last time."

Meggie's eyes went wide with delight. "Really? Wow, it's great to meet you, Mr. King. Mo talks about you a lot."

King smiled again. "Do you know, Mo?"

Mo nodded. "Of course. Without you, most of these books probably wouldn't be here." He gestured to the piles next to his and Meggie's chairs.

Pansy cleared her throat loudly. "Yeah, we're still here," she said rudely.

Mo blinked. "My apologies, who are you?"

"Pansy Parkinson, from Harry Potter. I'm supposed to be protecting King and Bently."

Mo nodded, but Bently had caught his eye. He gazed at Bently, a bit wondrous. "So you're the boy who's supposed to be the new master?"

Bently shifted uncomfortably. "I guess, but master of _what_? No one's told me."

Mo looked shocked. "The master of writing, of course!"

Bently gave a start. Him, the master of writing? Wasn't that reserved for people like Shakespeare, Dante, and the man in the room, Stephen King? He had gotten good grades in English, but he had supposed that was because he liked reading and actually read all the books.

"Me? What? That's not possible!"

"You aren't yet, let me assure you," said King. "You'll need to be trained, of course. But if you're ever going to defeat Meyer, you're going to need something more powerful than that wand and sword."

"The pen is mightier than the sword," quoted Mo.

"So… that's why you're here? To teach me how to write?" Bently asked King, who nodded.

"Yes. That and I know what to do. I was the one who was the writing master, last time." There was a moment of silence, and then King continued. "Bently, do you know how I got to be such a good author? How I got so famous?"

"Uh, yeah, you're a damn good writer."

"But I used to be just like you; average. That is, until I was called upon by the great literary characters of my time to defeat Harrison Dent. I had no idea how to properly put a sentence together, how to pick the right words, how to convey the deepest emotions. But they saw my potential. I was taught by the previous master of writing, Edgar Allan Poe."

"_Edgar Allan Poe taught you to write?_"

"Yes. Well, himself in ghost form. Obviously, he was dead long before my time, but there hadn't been any need for a master in between our times. The one before him was Shakespeare."

Bently's head was spinning again. This was completely crazy.

"But you see, last time, I only had a few stories to clean up. But afterwards, I could do it. Words flowed freely for me, and in abundance. I published soon afterwards, and it's been nothing but success. I'm afraid, however, that it'll be a bit trickier for you."

"Why?"

"Because Dent was a poet, not an author. He didn't exactly have any solid characters to kill, meaning he was rather easy to defeat. Meyer has an entire army of not only sparkling vampires, but a huge fan base of horny thirteen-year-old girls. She literally has thousands of people under her command. That's how she opened the portals between our world and the books in the first place; she got all of her fans to write lots and lots of horrid fanfiction. Not only did it mess up the worlds, but it allowed her characters to take over the worlds and begin destroying them. If we don't stop her soon, kill off her characters, and close the portals, then…"

"Then what?" Bently asked when King didn't finish.

King sighed. "The texts themselves will change. Across our world, the text of every copy of that book will reflect the destroyed world within. Every person who tries to read a copy will be disgusted, and resort to reading the books of whoever started everything, in this case, Meyer, and books like hers."

"So basically… it's like Super Paper Mario. The different worlds are getting engulfed in a void that is Meyer's characters, and if we don't stop it, everyone in the world will end up reading books like the ones in the teen section; trashy vampire romance novels," Bently concluded. He doubted anyone would get the video game reference, but everything was now starting to more-or-less make sense to him at least.

"If that analogy suits you," King agreed.

"So how do we take them down?" Bently asked, determined now.

"That's where Mo and Meggie come in," said King, beginning to un-bury a few chairs from under the piles of books.

"Meggie and I have a special ability," Mo said, sitting down in his chair. "We're Portal Jumpers, or rather, people who can read people and objects in and out of books."

Bently's jaw dropped. "Really? You can do that?"

"Yes. I was Stephen's Jumper when he had to take on Dent. And now, I think… it's Meggie's turn."

Meggie's eyes show again, and whether it was out of anxiety or excitement, Bently didn't know. "Really Mo? Will you let me go with them?"

Mo nodded. "Well, I've let you go on crazy adventures yourself, and they need you. Plus, I'm too old."

"Mortimer, you are _not_, I am," Eleanor chimed in, looking ruffled. She looked displeased to have so many people in the library. She sat herself down in a chair King had recently cleaned off and crossed her arms.

"Thank you Eleanor, but I am for this sort of adventure," Mo said kindly.

"Well, what else do I need to know? It seems like there a million things I don't know," Bently asked, eager to learn more.

"Well… you know about Jumpers… oh, the writing law," said Mo, looking expectantly at King.

"Fine, I'll tell him."

"Well, you're the one who knows best."

"I suppose… you see, Jumpers can not only go between books, but change what happens in the world itself. When a master writes something exceptionally well, the Jumper can read it and change the world. This will be how we'll close the portals and defeat Meyer in the end; you'll have to write her out."

"Can't you just do it?" Bently asked.

King shook his head. "No. You've been chosen, and now only you can make any major changes. I can now only create new worlds, not change existing new ones."

Bently sighed. "Alright, fine… anything else?"

"The magic rule," Pansy said pointedly. "You've forgotten about that."

"What's that?" Bently asked.

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Alright, since you _obviously_ don't know… the magic rule is a law about how magic is used in different worlds. Each world has a different amount of magic in it, and that's related to how much and what kinds of magic you can do. In my world and a few others, like Narnia, there is a lot of magic, so you and I can use magic fairly easily. But, if I were to use magic in Narnia, it wouldn't be as easy as using magic at Hogwarts. Your magic within yourself has to match up to the magic in the world to be able to use it easily. And then, if there's no magic in the world, like this one and your world, you can't use it. That's why it's important for you to be able to write well, because not all the books we have to save have magic in them. Luckily, Meyer is in a world where there is some magic, but that will benefit her just as much as it will us."

"So, I can use magic?"

"Yes, you proved that when you killed the Fairy Lord."

"Awesome," Bently said to himself, his hand clenching around his wand in his pocket. He couldn't, but could at the same time, believe that this was happening. He was going to go into books. He could use magic. He was going to defeat more pansy vampires. He was going to be a writing master. Stephen freaking _King_ was going to teach him.

"Where are we going first?" he asked, anxious to get started.

"I think we should start somewhere that'll be, well, easy," said Pansy. "Someplace we can still use magic. I won't be much use after we've got the books with magic taken care of."

"Yes… _Lord of the Rings_ should do," said King, picking the book off of Meggie's stack and handing it to her.

"You sure you can do this, Meggie?" Mo asked.

"Yes Mo, I can."

"And you have all the books you need to save with you?"

Meggie patted a large shoulder bag on the floor next to her.

"Alright, be careful. Stephen, make sure nothing bad happens to my daughter."

"Of course, Mo. Meggie?"

Meggie nodded, grabbed the bag, started flipping through the book, and found a passage. Then she began to read.

"_Away in the distance eastward they could now see a line of hills. The highest of them was at the right of the line and a little separated from the others. It had a conical top, slightly flattened at the summit._

'_That is Weathertop,' said Strider. 'The Old Road, which we have left far away on our right, runs to the south of it and passes not far from its foot...'"_

Bently felt a sort of sucking sensation, and the world around him except for himself, Pansy, King, and Meggie began to fade away, and everything was going fuzzy…

* * *

**And so the adventure begins!**

**The passage at the end is from "Fellowship of the Ring."**

**Reviews are loved!**

**~Icamane**


	5. Suit Up, Head Out

It was extremely dark for quite a while, and when Bently stopped feeling fuzzy, it was still dark. But there was an eerie screaming sound.

"_Bently, get your wand out!_" Pansy screamed, conjuring fire. In its light, Bently could see King protecting Meggie and Pansy waving her wand around. They were in a stone courtyard, and there were dark clothed figures all around them, screaming awfully.

"BENTLY!"

Bently fumbled in his pocket for his wand, and pulled it out, not sure what to do. Pansy chased off one of the figures. "Use Incendio!"

"Uh… uh, Incendio!" Bently yelled, and a few sparks flew out of his wand. He jumped, but then one of the figures came for him, and he got a better grip on his wand. "Incendio!" he yelled, and fire flashed out of his wand, catching the figure, who ran off, screaming. But they just kept coming.

"Expecto Patronum!" yelled Pansy, and a silver cobra flew out of her wand, striking the nearest figure. This seemed to be much more effective, and soon, they were gone, leaving only an echo of their freakish screams.

"What—what were they?" Bently asked, panting.

"Ring Wraiths," Meggie answered shakily. "I knew I should have read us into a different section."

"That's fine, Meggie, it was probably a lot safer than getting put in Minas Tirith where the vampire is," said King, cleaning his glasses with a shaky hand.

"Yeah, I doubt they'll try and take Mordor for a while," Pansy added. "Not bad, Bently, once you got your head out of your arse, anyways."

Bently decided to just take that as a compliment. "Thanks. Awesome Patronus."

Pansy nodded. "Alright, where to, King?"

"Well, we need to meet up with Faramir and Eowyn, correct?"

"Yeah, I think we're supposed to meet up with them in Rivendell or Rohan."

"Then let's get on."

So they set off down the hill, Pansy and Bently's wands lit so they wouldn't be completely in the dark.

"Is there any way we can avoid those things? It's been a while since I read this book," Bently asked Meggie.

"Well, they should just be after Frodo, if nothing's been changed. Otherwise, they might be working for the vampire, and we'll have a bit of a problem. Stephen?" she asked the older man tentatively. "Would there be any way you could write something that would keep them away from us?"

"No, but Bently could," he said. "Let's stop under those trees, and I'll give you your first lesson, Bently."

For a few minutes they were silent except for a few grunts and swear words when they stubbed their toes. Bently had a hard time keeping his eyes off the skies, where there were thousands upon thousands of stars, many more than he had ever seen in his world.

They finally reached the forest and stopped under a large oak tree. Pansy conjured a fire and some tents. "Food'll be the only problem," she said, making sleeping bags.

"That's fine, we'll manage until tomorrow," said King, pulling the notebook and pen out from inside his coat. "Alright Bently, time to start this. Ready?"

"Ready," said Bently, sitting down by the fire next to King. He wondered how on earth these writing lessons would go.

"Alright, so I guess, the most important thing will be finding your own style. It's the thing most writers struggle with, and probably the most important thing. For instance, my own style is very blunt and realistic, and detailed. Your own style could be poetic, but the point is, it'll be your own style, and no one else's. Now, I want you to try and write us some food. Include where we are, how we feel, and what exactly we'll be eating."

"Um, alright," said Bently, taking the notebook and pen King was offering him and flipped it open. It was completely blank. He uncapped the pen, and after a moment's thought, began to write.

"_Bently, King, Meggie and Pansy were crouching around the fire in the dark under a tree. It was cold, and they were hungry. But from inside her sleeping bag, Pansy found four sandwiches, and they all ate, happy to be fed._"

King read it over and shook his head. "You've got your ideas down, but give it more details. What kind of sandwiches? How cold is it? How dark? What's the fire like? Anything you can think of."

Bently nodded, and took the notebook back. This time, he wrote more carefully, trying to pack in as much detail as possible.

"_Bently, King, Meggie and Pansy crouched around the fire, trying to keep warm from the biting cold. It was very dark out, but they could still see stars up between the branches of the tree they sat under. They were all four very hungry, but as Pansy reached into her sleeping bag, she found four turkey and cheese sandwiches, and they all ate, happy for some luck at last._"

King read it nodding this time. "Better. Let's try it. Meggie?" He held the notebook out to her, and she read Bently's new paragraph, her voice making the words float off the page.

When she finished, she asked, "Did it work?" Pansy shrugged, and reached her hand into her sleeping bag. To her astonishment, she pulled out four small sandwiches.

"Good, Bently. Very good," commented King, accepting his sandwich. "You'll need improvement to conjure a lot more than sandwiches, though."

"So what'll we do about the Wraiths?" Bently asked.

"If they come near us again, we'll fight them off and you'll have to write something that'll counter whatever the vampire has cooked up."

"Alright, that'll work, I guess."

Bently was the first one to fall asleep that night. All this go-go-going had made him more exhausted than he could ever remember. He wondered if every night would be like this before he finally drifted off to sleep.

The morning sun that filtered through the trees woke Bently up at what he thought was all too soon. He grumbled and rolled over, yawning and blinking rapidly. Pansy was perched next to the fire, making sure it was out, King was cleaning up the camp, and Meggie was still asleep.

"Rise and shine, McQueen," said Pansy curtly. Bently frowned, but didn't feel the need to tell her off. There were more important things to attend to, and he was to tired to do it anyways.

"Where do we need to head off to?" he asked King.

"Rivendell; Faramir is waiting for us there, and then we'll continue on to Rohan and the Golden Hall."

Bently nodded and got up, and his stomach growled. "Where's the paper?" he asked King. King pointed to the top of his sleeping bag, and Bently picked up the notebook and pen. King was waking up Meggie as Bently began to write.

"_The next morning, the sun shone brightly. When the four awoke, they discovered that someone had made them breakfast and brought it to them. Four plates of eggs and bacon where on the ground next to the traveling company, smelling like the most amazing food in the world you could imagine. The four ate in peace before setting off on the day's journey to Rivendell, only ten miles away._"

"Hey Meggie, could you read this for me?" Bently asked the younger girl as she rubbed her eyes.

"Sure, Bently," she replied, yawned, and then took the notebook and read his new paragraph. The smell of eggs and bacon soon filled the air, and King and Pansy looked up in surprise to see breakfast.

"Not bad, Bently," commented Pansy. "Except, it's hard to eat eggs without forks."

Bently turned a bit red, realizing his mistake, but King just laughed. "Good try. Now, let's eat and move on."

The eating was a bit messy, but after about a mile of walking they found a stream and they washed themselves off. When they started moving again, Bently caught up and walked with Pansy.

"Hey Pansy, can you Apparate?"

"Yes, why?" she asked.

"Well, can't you just Apparate us to Rivendell?"

"I would, but I don't know where I'd be Apparating us to," she explained. "I could end up with us in a wall, or one of us Splinched, or something else. I'm not going to risk that. Plus, this place's magic is very old. I don't know if I could get us all there in one piece."

"How do you know it's old?"

"I can just feel it. Do you feel drained after doing a lot of magic?"

Bently thought, then shook his head slowly.

"Well, I did. Last night, after I had to use my Patronus to scare off those Wraith things, I felt completely drained. That's never happened to me at Hogwarts, so I figure it's the magic laws kicking in."

"Have you ever been outside your own world?"

"No, this is my first time. It's really weird, this world. If they have magic, why do they have swords?" When Bently gave her an odd look, she said, "Meggie told me about this book last night while we kept watch."

Bently nodded, but that wasn't what was bothering him. Pansy… wasn't acting like Pansy. She wasn't snapping, being rude (most the time) or nasty. She was acting totally unlike anything he had ever read her acting like, and certainly different from the last time they had encountered each other. Last time, she had tried to feed him to the giant toad that was what had become of Professor Slughorn.

It took nearly all day for them to finally reach Rivendell. Bently discovered to his disappointment that Rivendell had not moved any closer, which was what he had tried to write that morning. '_Writing is a lot harder than I thought it was_,' Bently commented to himself as they finally stumbled into the elf city in the fading sunlight.

But the sight of the city cheered him up considerably. It was beautiful, with its waterfalls and hundreds of groves of trees, and the buildings weaving in between the plant life just as easily as the water flowed down the cliff faces. A golden light cast everything in light shadows, and making the colours look even more real in a way. Bently followed King down the wide dirt path towards the buildings, where there were even more lights and a melodic laughter. This was one part in the book that he had remembered, and from what he remembered of the movie, this was even better than what Peter Jackson had created.

"Elves really live here?" Bently asked with wonder.

"Yes. Now hurry, I smell food," said Pansy, and she picked up the pace.

Out of one of the structures came the man from the hall, Faramir, with his strawberry blonde hair shining in the dying sunlight. "King, Bently! There you are, we were beginning to worry, some of my scouts reported Wraiths nearby."

King shook his hand. "Good to see you, Faramir. Is Elrond here? We haven't eaten since this morning."

As Bently's stomach growled again, he wondered what they would get to eat. He didn't remember what the elves liked to eat.

"Yes, right this way," said Faramir, and he lead them through what could have been called a doorway but was really much more of a threshold or arch, because there was no door. The structures and nature had all become one in this city, and so Bently could never quite tell where building stopped and forest began.

They were lead into a great feasting hall where several tall, thin people were seated, talking, drinking, and laughing merrily. At the head of the table was a wise-looking elf, with long, dark brown hair and dark, perceptive eyes. Bently guessed that this was Elrond, and he was right, because King greeted him as such.

"This is Pansy, our guard, and Meggie, our Jumper," King said, introducing the girls.

"And this must be Bently, the new master," said Elrond, shaking Bently's hand. "Welcome."

"Thanks. I'm more of a master in training though," Bently said, feeling humble. Though Bently couldn't remember exactly how old Elrond was in the book, he knew the elf was very old, and could feel an aura coming from him, like Elrond knew just about everything that was worth knowing in this world.

"Come, sit and eat. You must be tired," Elrond offered, and they all took seats at the table among the elves.

"Where did you come in, King?" Elrond asked once food had been served for the newcomers.

"Whethertop," King replied. "And at exactly the wrong moment, too. The Wraiths were there, and we had a bit of a problem driving them off until Bently figured out he could actually use magic." King's sarcasm was dark, but in all essentiality, good-natured. "But we haven't seen them since Pansy ran them off."

"The vampire must have called them back," said Elrond. Bently gave a bit of a start, and Elrond nodded. "Oh yes. He's got armies massing at Minas Tirith. The Wraiths and all of Gondor are under his control, along with many of our heroes."

"Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli were taken over, and are now the personal guards of the vampire," said Faramir a bit despairingly.

"Well then come on!" said Bently, fired up. "Let's go kick his ass!"

"It is not that simple," said Elrond patiently. "If they suspect that they will be taken back over, then the vampire will only flee. We must make them think they are winning, and then send them back into the abyss from whence they came."

"A surprise attack?"

"Precisely."

"But come _on_," said Bently. He was getting really impatient. "When do we go attack them?"

"We head out tomorrow. But right now, it is most important to be rested well. You have a long journey still a head of you."

Bently tossed and turned that night. He kept having odd nightmares that woke him up in a cold sweat, causing him to shiver in the mild night. In every one of them, there was a tall, pale vampire with a shaved head, blood spilling out of his mouth. And every time Bently got close to defeating him, he disappeared into the shadows, laughing, and then the scream turned into the Wraith's scream…

It took three days on horses to finally reach Rohan and the Golden Hall. Bently was sore like the other three from riding for so long, especially after the first day. He honestly didn't think he would be able to get back up on his horse, Eoryn, the other two days, but he did.

The city of Edoras was a simple one. Wooden buildings were very common, and Bently didn't see more than a handful made with any sort of stone. There were just as many horses as there were people. And not just live ones; there were horses carved on the buildings, sewn into the cloths and banners, and imbedded in the armor. It was clear the strong connection these people had to their horses.

People gave them odd looks as they passed through the city and up the winding slope to the Golden Hall, which was at the top overlooking the valley. The wind whipped Bently's rusty brown hair around his face, and he fought to keep it out of his eyes. The guards merely nodded at them as Faramir lead them inside.

There were yet more carvings and guards inside. At the end of the hall sitting on the high throne was the woman who had been in the Great Hall, Eowyn. Her long gold hair was flowing around her shoulders, and she wore a royally long dress of pale blue. A small gold crown sat on her head, and she smiled expectantly as they approached.

"At last, the heroes have arrived," she said, standing. Everyone in the group either kneeled or bowed their heads, and Bently did the same.

'_She must be important,_' he thought.

"Hail, Eowyn, Queen of Rohan," said Elrond. "What news from the Riddermark?"

"Much is brewing in the East, Elrond of Rivendell," the Queen replied. "My brother is assembling the Rohirim, and we plan to ride to war tomorrow. We've let this go on for long enough."

Bently admired her bravery. He could see the spark in her eyes, and he knew she fully intended on leading her army.

"Young man, what was your name again?"

Bently snapped out of his thoughts to find the Queen looking at him with interest. "Bently McQuinn," he almost stuttered out. "I'm the—"

"Writing master, yes," she said with a smile. "I was at the meeting. However, I did not remember your name. But now I shall. Are you ready to lead the attack against the vampire Emmett?"

Bently smirked, masking his nerves as best he could. "You bet I'm ready."

"Then tomorrow, we ride."

"Hey Bently."

Bently looked up from the book he was reading to see Pansy standing next to his table. He set down _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_ with a sigh.

"Hey Pansy."

"It's your turn," she said, mentioning to her new armor. She wore chain mail and leather armor over her normal cloths, and a new dark green cloak. She also had a short dagger on her belt, and a special loop for her wand.

"I get some too?"

"Of course," Pansy snorted. "You're supposed to be our great hero, or something, after all."

"Gee, thanks," Bently spat back. He shoved his book in his bag and slung it over his shoulder, walking out into the cool of evening and towards the armory.

"There you are, Bently," said another female voice, and Bently almost thought that it was Pansy again. But it was Meggie, her dirty blonde curls bouncing as she walked with him into the armory. "Are you nervous?"

"About what?"

"Well, tomorrow for one thing. I mean, battles can be pretty scary," Meggie said kindly. "And for your fight against the vampire. Are you sure you can do it?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I've already killed one, haven't I?" said Bently a bit defensively. "And I guess I'm nervous, but not really. It can't be all that bad, can it?"

Meggie smiled slightly. "You'll think that until you get there. It might just be me, but I didn't think they would be that bad until I was in one myself, and now I really hate fighting. It's so unnecessary."

"Well, what about now? Do you think they should just lie down to Meyer's every command?" Bently asked.

"No," said Meggie, a bit nervous. "I mean, obviously there are times when you have to fight and they're for very good reasons, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. And I think that we should try at least talking to her first…"

"Meggie, have you ever read one of her books or seen her fans?"

Meggie shook her head.

"Well, that explains it. Meggie, that lady is crazy, and her fans are worse. I got three of my fingers and my nose broken by some crazy chick who flipped out when I said I thought Twilight was crap. Reason isn't going to work."

Meggie bit her lip. "Well, you think what you like, and I'll think what I like, okay?"

"Fine."

Eowyn and her brother, Eomer, were the ones who found armor for the two teens. Bently ended up with chain mail and some very thick leather armor pieces. Eomer almost gave him a sword, but the Bently remember he had Gryffindor's, and that's the only one he would need. Eomer didn't look exactly happy putting a younger kid in armor and weapons, but at least he gave him a belt with a wand loop, like Pansy's. "Pray that it will be enough," he said before sending Bently back to the Hall.

Bently adjusted the dark green cloak as he walked back. It was large, warm, and had a very spacious hidden pocket on the inside. He couldn't help but feel like a badass in the cloak and armor. '_At least if I die, I'll go the right way._'

Wait. Had he really just asked that?

He ran the rest of the way up the hill to the Hall and into the room where they had put up King. He burst in to the candle-lit room, panting.

"King, King!"

King gave a small start, then turned around to face him. "What Bently?"

"What… what happens if we die here?"

There was silence except for Bently's panting for a few moments before King answered him.

"From what I remember and understand, you're sent to The Blank World."

Bently gulped. "And… what's that?"

"It's like a void in the literary world. Unfinished worlds reside there, and it's the source of writers block. When characters are killed, or people in our case, they are sent there. The only way out is if an author comes along a sort of… recycles their essence."

"Reincarnation?"

"Exactly. But there's no given time that someone could be in there. One character might get recycled right away, while another stays there for year and years. There's just no telling."

"So like… if I died, you could write me out again?"

"Not the exact same you. Your spirit, maybe, but not you in this form. Who knows what you would look and act like after you've been recycled. People, and characters, change in there."

Bently stood there shivering for a moment. He really did not like this idea of the Blank World.

"What're you working on?" he asked when he spotted the notebook and pen on the table, nearly a page filled with King's cramped handwriting.

"I'm attempting the craft of story altering again," King sighed, turning back to the notebook. "I've been story creating for so long that I'm having a bit of trouble with altering. We're only going to be making a journey for a few hours, not days."

"Will it work?"

"We'll see in the morning."

* * *

**Whoopie, Bently can write in food. But, you have to admit, he kind of sucks xD**

**Anyways, so here's the dealio;**  
**I'm going to update every Monday like usual. But if you guys leave me at least three legit reviews (couple sentances, nothing much, I'm not looking for a bible here), I'll send another update your way. Sound good? Good. I totally stole this idea from Dru, so I give her credit for it.**  
**~Icamane**


	6. Emmett

The next morning, Bently was roughly shaken awake and pulled out of bed. The sun wasn't even up yet, and he was already being thrown onto a horse and they were heading out. He rode a little behind Pansy and in front of King and Meggie, who were talking quietly with each other. Bently glimpsed King passing Meggie the notebook, and he wondered if they were going to try making the ride shorter.

They rode in darkness for a while, and when the first rays of the sun had appeared from behind the mountains, Edoras and the Golden Hall were just specks in the distance. Bently was baffled.

"How have we gone so far in such short time?" he asked King, slowing down his horse a bit so he could talk to his mentor.

"I finished the passage long after you had gone to bed, and I had Meggie read it as soon as she could. I must still have a little bit of manipulative power."

"King?"

"Yes?"

"If you're such a great author, couldn't you just write a new story and get those new characters to help us?"

"It would take too long," King said simply. "Most people think you can just pull ideas out of your head and have them work instantly, but that's not true. You have to work to get everything to cooperate properly, and if you don't, you end up with an incomplete world like with what happened to Meyer."

Bently moved up to talk to Pansy instead. Though, he doubted she would be much more positive.

"Hey Pansy, so you know all about what's going on, right?"

"For the most part… I guess," she said, squinting into the horizon.

"So… Meyer is messing up the stories, right?"

"Right."

"So what's wrong with this story?"

"Nothing major yet, but the timeline is pretty screwed up, I'd say."

"Timeline?"

"Yeah. Events that happened in the first book are happening at the same time as things that aren't supposed to take place until the third book."

"Great. And… how did Meyer choose which books were going to be taken over? I mean, some of those characters in the Great Hall were from books I _know_ aren't, uh… literary merit."

"Good point, but I thought you knew Meyer wasn't the brightest? I don't really know, but she probably either just picked books she knew were popular or that she liked or something along those lines."

By mid-day, they were at the top of a valley looking down onto the plains. On their right was an enormous white city, carved right out of the mountain. But it was troubled. Bently could see even from their great distance that there were soldiers everywhere.

Eowyn and Eomer rode over to Bently, King, Pansy and Meggie. "The time has come," said the Queen. "Bently McQuinn, everything is riding on you now. My brother and I will lead the frontal attack while Faramir and Elrond lead a sneak attack. You and your friends must make it to the very top. The vampire is in the throne room. And watch out for the fallen heroes, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. They are under his spell now."

"Enter into the city with Faramir, then go your own ways," Eomer added, and he road off to ready his troupes.

"Good luck, McQuinn," said the Queen, and she turned to her warriors. "Riders!" she called out. "We have toiled much to rebuild our world after Sauron. Let us fight this new evil which has taken Gondor!"

The troops cheered in response, and the small group that was to attack in secret peeled away. Bently watched as the Queen lead the attack, her sword held proudly in front of her and some loose golden locks flying behind her in the wind.

As soon as the people of Rohan had engaged the soldiers from the city in battle, Faramir lead the group down towards another wall. "Bently," he said. "You're going to need to get us in. Can you—"

"Reducto!"

There was an explosion, and where wall had been, there was now a large hole, big enough for a horse and his rider to walk through without stooping. Everyone looked around to find Pansy with her wand out. "Oh please," she scoffed. "That was much easier, and you know it."

No one said anything, but they all filed into the city. The explosion had drawn a few soldiers, and Faramir and his men soon engaged them. Bently saw that the enemy soldiers had the same dead look in their eyes as the students he had encountered when he was at Hogwarts – the fairy zombies.

"Come on Bently," said Meggie, and she pulled him away from the fights and after King and Pansy.

"Which way is the throne?" Bently asked, looking hopelessly at the maze of staircases and streets as they ran like mad.

"I'm not sure, let me check the—"

FUMP!

An arrow flew past Bently's shoulder and lodged itself in a barrel behind him. He whipped his head around and saw quite a few soldiers running towards them, disturbing looks on their faces. Pansy ran towards them, a look of determination on her face. "Go!" she yelled back, waving her wand and making a whirl of fire. "Go get that damn vampire!"

Bently wanted to stay and help, but King grabbed him by the hood of his cloak and dragged him off, away and up.

"We've got to help her!" Bently yelled, angry with King.

"Pansy can take care of herself. You, on the other hand, need to get up to the throne room. It's at the very top of the city, so if you just keep going up, you should get there." They heard the clanging of more soldiers, many more by the sound of it, getting closer. "Go Bently, we'll draw their attention."

Meggie nodded solemnly. "Yeah, we can take them together. We'll be fine, Bently."

Bently seriously doubted that, but he just took a deep breath. "Be careful," he said, and ran off. The last thing he heard was King yelling some sort of insult to draw the soldier's attention, and then he was all alone.

The further and further he climbed into the city, the more quite it had gotten. "This is just like when Hogwarts got taken over," Bently commented to himself, checking his surroundings for another staircase. "All the characters are fighting, and I'm all alone… again."

"Are you?" asked an eerie voice from above him. Bently looked up the staircase to see three figures, two tall and one short. It was Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, but they had that creepy, empty look in their eyes too. They all had their weapons out, as if challenging him.

"You finally made it," said Aragorn, his voice still creepy.

"We've been waiting for you," said Legolas, notching an arrow in his bow.

"You're never going to reach the master," added Gimli.

"Or maybe I will," said Bently, pulling out his wand. Memories of fighting Edward what seemed like ages ago flooded into him, and he was ready. "Bring it on."

An arrow let loose from the bow and it almost hit Bently, but he dodged at the last millisecond. He waved his wand and yelled, "Stupify!" The red jet went off in a random direction, and Bently mentally cursed himself. '_I need to improve my freaking aim,_' he noted as he dodged another arrow.

"Flipendo!" he yelled, and this time his spell hit, blasting the three fallen heroes back and off their feet. Bently charged up the stairs before they could get back up, and yelled, "Expelliarmus!" Gimli's axe went flying off in a random direction, and Bently thought it had gotten stuck in some door. But he had Legolas to deal with again, because he was the fastest on his feet. Bently sent spell after spell at him, but Legolas just dodged, and Legolas send arrow after arrow at Bently, but Bently blocked them with Protego, save a few close calls which he dodged. He got a lucky shot in and Stunned the elf though, but when he turned around, he found himself toe-to-toe with Aragorn.

Before Bently even knew what was happening, there was hot pain on his face and he was on the ground, trying to figure out how he had gotten there. Aragorn loomed over him with a curved elf knife in his hand, and Bently's blood on the blade. Without thinking, Bently waved his wand and the knife came down towards his chest. "Duro!" Aragorn froze into stone just as the knife was inches from Bently's chest. Panting slightly, Bently slid out from under the statue and stood, looking for Gimli. The dwarf was still trying to pull his axe from the door it had stuck in. Bently, feeling a bit drained, merely set the Leg-Locker Curse on him. '_Well, he won't be able to do much with his legs stuck together,_' Bently thought, continuing on his journey through Minas Tirith.

He didn't meet anyone else as he climbed the final staircase and came out at the top of the long sort of walkway that overlooked the city. Bently felt really drained so he sat on the ledge, looking down at the city. The lower levels were in chaos, but he thought he saw more people wearing Rohan armor fighting, so he was content. "Maybe we can win this thing," he told himself, and then he picked himself up and headed for the giant closed black doors of the throne room.

The doors were locked, and it took an "Alohomora!" to get them to open. Then they were very heavy, so Bently felt ever more tired when he had finally gotten in. The hall was completely black except for the sliver of light that came in from the door. "Lumos," he muttered, and his wand tip lit with a small light. The black was frightening, and Bently really didn't want to venture into it. Especially if there was a prissy vampire fairy inside.

Suddenly, the door snapped shut, and Bently jumped and turned about three feet in the air. "Bently McQuinn, you've come at last," said a gruff voice, and just on the outside of his light, he could see the outline of a tall, thick-looking person. "So, you got past my guards?"

"Yeah, piece of cake," said Bently as coolly as he could, suddenly conscious of the blood on his face and wondering if that was drawing the vampire to him. He hoped not, but doubted that hope.

"You honestly think you can win against me?" the vampire asked. "I, Emmett Cullen, am the strongest of the vampires."

"You mean fairies?" Bently asked snidely. "Too bad though, I'm gonna kill you."

Bently felt a breeze behind him, and he whipped around. Emmett retracted swiftly, hissing. "Don't like the light, do you?" Bently asked, beginning to piece things together. He pulled out Gryffindor's Sword, and brandished his wand light. '_I need to weaken him, but does the Horcrux Medallion reach…? Maybe some kind of light will do it,_' he thought. He brandished his wand again, and Emmett continued to hiss, lashing out with his hands. '_What the hell is the most powerful light in Lord of the Rings?_'

And then, like some kind of magic, like… _writing_, the words hit him. "Accio Eärendil!" he yelled, and he thought he could hear a swishing noise from somewhere. But Emmett's hand caught him and he went sailing through the air with an "oof," losing his wand and sword. Then Emmett was running at him, fists clenched in fury…

But there was a crashing noise, and through one of the windows shot a very, very bright light. Emmett had to hide his eyes from it, but Bently caught it, and pick up his nearest weapon, the sword. The elf light was brighter than anything, and lit up every crevice of the hall. It reduced Emmett to the floor, struggling away from Bently. He hissed harshly as Bently approached him.

"Eat dust, fairy," Bently said, then stabbed Emmett with the sword. With a scream, Emmett burst into black dust that sparkled in the elf light. And there was nothing but Bently, the light, the dust, and his heart, thudding in his chest.

* * *

**Lulz, that was easy... but give Bently some credit, this was his first fight xD And really... did you expect something difficult from a fairy vampire?**

**Anyways, thanks to yellow14, blackbeltbrea, and Red Baron for the reviews. You guys rock my socks, so here's another update. I can do this 'cuz... well, the story's already finished xD I've just been editing it. Also, Baron - You're totally right that Eormer WOULD have inherited the throne, but if my memory serves me well, Theoden named Eowyn his sucessor, not Eormer. **

**But, you lot know the drill now then ;) 3+ decent reviews = faster updates. **

**~Icamane**


	7. Wolves

It was a few minutes before Bently could wrap his head around the idea of actually winning the fight. He felt totally exhausted, like he could keel over any second, so after he had opened the doors back up and gotten rid of the thick curtains over the windows, he sat on the stone floor and closed his eyes. With every breath, he felt as if he could fall asleep, and he almost did, but then he pulled himself back up to examine the dust. It was being shifted gently around by the wind, sparkling in the sunlight. Bently wondered if each vampire was made of a different coloured dust, since Emmett's was black while Edward's had been rainbow.

Bently sighed a pleased sigh and collected the light, the sword, and his wand before walking out of the throne room and back out into the sweet sunlight. The air felt cleaner, more pure somehow. He walked back out on the walkway, looking out over Middle Earth. He didn't hear the sounds of fighting anymore. Bently looked down, and instead, he thought he could see people helping each other. And maybe that was a cheer of victory in the wind.

"I did it," Bently said, swelling with pride. "I freaking saved Middle Earth!"

"We thank you, Bently McQuinn."

Bently couldn't help but grin as he bowed his head. Aragorn had been restored to his rightful place on the throne of Gondor, and he now stood before Bently and his companions, in full king regalia.

"You have saved Middle Earth, and purged the land of the evil vampires which had poisoned it," the King went on, and Bently looked up. "We offer you this elvish blade to aid you on your future endeavors to rid the worlds of these leeches."

Bently accepted the curved blade and bowed even deeper. "Thank you Aragorn, King of Gondor." He was getting rather good at these titles.

Aragorn moved on to Meggie. "Meggie, Portal Jumper, we can not give a gift greater than what you already possess, but we can give you this." He handed Meggie a thin, battered book. The title read, _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe._ "The Kings and Queens of Narnia have requested your aid, and this is your key."

Meggie's mouth opened into a small O as she took the book gingerly in her hands. "Thank you, King."

He moved on to Pansy now. "And you, Pansy Parkinson. You have powers I and my fellows have only ever dreamed of. We give you the Elf Star. You will know what to do with it."

Pansy's jaw dropped as she accepted the white light. She merely closed her mouth and nodded solemnly.

"Stephen King." King looked up with a mysterious smile on his face. "Welcome back. We only wish you could stay longer."

"As do I, Aragorn," King replied. "But we both know that can't happen. You need to rebuild, and we need to free more worlds from the likes of Meyer."

"Indeed," said Aragorn. "Now go. But know that if you should ever need us, we can be called upon. The people of Middle Earth are forever in your debt."

There was cheering all around, and Bently's face hurt from grinning too much. But he felt a tugging on his sleeve, and found Meggie looking up at him. "Let's go, Bently."

The four of them walked into the throne room, which was empty. Meggie opened the Narnia book carefully, scanning its pages for a suitable passage. Finally, she found one, and began to read.

"_She began to walk forward, crunch-crunch over the snow and through the wood toward the other light. In about ten minutes she reached it and found it was a lamp-post. As she stood looking at it, wondering why there was a lamp-post in the middle of a wood and wondering what to do next, she heard a pitter patter of feet coming toward her._"

The next thing Bently knew, he was freezing cold. It was also quite dark except for the area right around him. When he looked up, he found a lamp-post in the middle of some woods, and that it was snowing lightly. Pansy, Meggie, and King were all standing with him, and everything was silent. Even their breath was muffled.

"Wow…" Meggie was the first to speak. She gazed around in wonder. "So this is Narnia."

"Yeah, big deal. It's cold, and we need shelter," said Pansy grumpily. She picked the nearest tree and waved her wand, creating a large tent. "Well? Are you going to get in or what?" And the other three followed her inside. The tent was spacious and warm.

'_Pansy sure knows her stuff,_' Bently commented as he climbed into a bunk. He was very, very tired. He had gotten no sleep since they had set out that morning to go conquer Minas Tirith. Although, by this time, it was probably more like yesterday morning. '_Whatever,_' Bently thought. '_I can sleep now._' He was soon fast asleep, as King had taken the first watch.

"Awoooo!"

"Bently! _Bently, get up now!_"

Meggie's panicked voice filled his ear, and Bently woke almost immediately. Something was already going wrong.

"Whais it?" he asked, his speech slurring from exhaustion.

"Wolves," said Meggie, terror in her voice. "We need to go now!"

She dragged him out of the tent, where King and Pansy were. King had one of the knives in his hand, the notebook tucked firmly inside his coat, and Pansy had her wand lit and at the ready. Bently lit his own wand, and they ran off, hopefully in the direction away from the howls.

But they just seemed to be everywhere now. Every few seconds, a new howl would start up. It seemed to Bently that they were surrounded. As his wand light flashed around him, he caught the sight of glowing eyes in front of him. He skidded to a halt, making everyone else stop. And as they did, more and more eyes appeared.

"Dammit," he heard Pansy swear, and she made her wand light as bright as it could be. The wolves bodies started to take shape, and Bently saw that they were enormous, much too large to be normal wolves.

"Wanna bet that flee-bag Jacob took over this book?" Bently muttered, flashing his wand light around, trying to get the beasts back. They were all now pressed back to back, ready to fight or die.

Then suddenly, one of the beasts lunged. But it wasn't at Meggie or King, the weakest, or Bently, the one they should have been after. It went for Pansy, and it caught her by surprise. Its powerful jaws closed over her left arm that she had rose to defend herself, and Bently heard a snap as her arm broke. Pansy screamed and went down to the ground, wrestling with the wolf.

Now the rest of the pack lunged. Bently shot one that had come after Meggie away with a blast of Flipendo, and King had slashed one's eye out with his knife. But Bently knew they needed a quick solution fast, and with a wolf trying to rip Pansy's arm off, he knew it had to be him.

"Incendio!" he roared, and fire whipped out of his wand. At first, it just snapped at a wolf then went out, but when he tried it again, he managed to create a sufficient stream of fire. The wolves snarled at it, and dodged away. So Bently made a ring of fire all around them, and shot fire after the remaining wolves.

"Sectumsempra!"

Bently heard a yelp and a lot of grunting, and he saw in the firelight Pansy and her wolf, both bleeding in the melting snow. Pansy was alive, and the wolf wasn't. But her arm was torn to pieces.

Meggie dropped to her knees in the snow next to Pansy, fear plastered on her young face. "Pansy! Pansy, you're alive, right?"

Pansy merely grunted in response. She had dropped her wand and was now using that hand to press down on what she could of her wound. It was bleeding profusely, and Bently thought he could see a little bone poking through the grizzled flesh. Now Bently and King were both around Pansy too, and Bently waved his wand over her, muttering all the spells he could ever remember that could heal someone. But nothing was working, and he only made himself tired from trying to use magic.

"King! King, write something!" Meggie said tearfully, trying to tie up Pansy's wound with shredded cloth. King fumbled for the notebook and pen, and then sat in the snow (more like slush) as close to the fire as he dared, and began scribbling furiously.

It seemed to be an agonizingly long time before King finally handed Meggie the notebook. Bently and Meggie had gotten Pansy fairly bandaged up, but the wound was still bleeding like mad, and Meggie had started crying. She got some blood and tears on the notebook as she took it with shaking hands, trying to steady her voice.

"_Pansy lay in the snow, her friends surrounding her, fire dancing in the night to keep the beastly wolves away. Her arm was broken, gashed, and bleeding furiously, seeming to be beyond all repair. But as Pansy rested and her friends tended to her wounds, they began to heal, seemingly of their own accord. It sent jolts of pain up her arm, but the bones moved back together, the muscles re-knotted themselves, and the skin stretched back over everything until there wasn't anything left but a pale scar of the wolf's jaws._"

Meggie looked over the top of the notebook to see that nothing had changed. A fresh wave of tears ran down her face. "King! Nothing's wo-working!" she sobbed, setting the notebook down in her lap.

"Give it time, Meggie," said King gravely. "It may still work yet. But for now, all we can do is wait until morning."

Bently offered to take the watch so that he could keep the fire going. No matter how exhausted he was, he wasn't going to let those wolves come back for seconds.

In the pale morning light, Pansy's arm looked… well, disgusting.

Everything about it was green, like some kind of mold was growing in her skin. The congealed blood was a sickly dark green, like a dark grass stain. Even the bandages had been turned green. When Bently first saw it, he honestly had to hold back some bile in his throat. He was completely disgusted by fungus.

"You just keep your damn mouth shut," Pansy grumbled. "I know it looks like crap, but dammit…"

"Yeah, okay," said Bently, turning away from her. He would let Meggie deal with her.

"Do you have any idea what it is?" he asked King in a soft voice as they packed everything away.

"I've never seen, heard, or written anything like it," said King, frowning. "I have no idea what it is, but I'm hoping that we can find someone or something that can heal her."

"I guess," Bently said, and he slung his backpack over his shoulder. It was already starting the get worn.

"Alright, let's head out," said Pansy wearily, and they all set off, weapons out in case of another attack.

"Um, weren't we supposed to meet someone? You know, like how we met up with Elrond and Faramir?"

"Yes," said Meggie, sounding extremely stressed. "We're supposed to meet up with Lucy, Eustace, and Jill at Beaver Dam. But I do not know when, or if they're still alive, or—"

"Meggie, please," Pansy said, irritated a bit. "They'll be fine, it's us we need to worry about."

And so they walked, and walked, and walked, through the snow, the trees, and the silence. Bently's fingertips and feet were starting to get numbingly cold. He didn't want to bother Pansy with asking her to transfigure him some more cloths, so he tried to do it himself. It took several tries, but he finally managed to make his jacket and cloak a lot thicker. He didn't want to try making gloves, so he stuck his hands in his pockets and hoped for the best.

And then, once they got out of the woods, it started snowing again. Hard. It was the really dense, wet kind too, the stuff that was perfect for snowballs, but really bad to travel in. "Dammit, we haven't gotten anywhere today," Bently swore, and he started trying to make a tent.

"Let me do it," Pansy said, her eyes half closed, stumbling slightly. Meggie caught her and steadied her.

"Pansy, just let Bently do it."

"He's hopeless. We'll be eaten by the wolves by the time he gets it set up and protected."

And with a wave of her wand, there was a new tent, this one made of thick material. "Nothing's getting though this," she muttered before she practically fell down inside the tent, eyes closing swiftly.

Bently wondered what in the world they were doing. It seemed like they had only walked for a few hours, but it was now night again. Could it be possible that Narnia was so screwed up that its time was even being altered? Bently had no idea, but he intended to find out. Right after Pansy's arm didn't look like the forest floor and Jacob the Mutt had been taken out.

Bently awoke the next morning to the sound of soft chatter. He rolled over and yawned, wondering what time it was. It was light outside, and it looked like it had stopped snowing. '_Well, that's an improvement,_' he thought, and sat up. Pansy was still asleep, and she looked worse today. Now there were parts going black or yellow, making the wound even gristly-er than before.

Bently rolled away and out of the tent. King and Meggie were outside in the morning sunlight, talking to a boy and girl about Meggie's age. Bently assumed that these were two of the people they were supposed to meet. "Isn't there supposed to be another one of you?" Bently asked bluntly. '_Gah, I'm picking up Pansy's slack,_' he thought bitterly.

The girl nodded, fear in her eyes. Fear was in everyone's eyes he met these days, and it was starting to bother Bently. He didn't feel particularly fearful, that is until he had to go fight a crazy vampire, but other than that… he sort of felt guilty that he wasn't as scared as everyone else was.

"Yes," she said slowly. "But… he kidnapped Lucy. And he's holding her for ransom."

"How much?" Bently asked, expecting some kind of large amount of gold.

"Complete control of Narnia for Lucy back," said the boy. "But she told us not to give in to him."

"But I just know he'll hurt her," said the girl. "What do we do?"

Everyone looked at Bently, expectant. "Well, we fight of course. We get Lucy back, and we take out Jacob," he said, feeling that thrilling fire in his veins again.

The girl beamed. "Really?"

"Hell yes. What's your names?"

"I'm Jill, and this is Eustace," said Jill, bowing her head.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Bently, and is Meggie and King. Pansy's inside," said Bently, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to the tent. "Now where's Lucy and Jacob?"

"They're both at Cair Paraval, down by the sea," said Eustace. "We just need to follow the river south."

"Then let's do it!"

It was what felt like half an hour to get Pansy up and everything packed away, but judging by how the sun moved, it was more like two hours.

"Why does time pass so fast here?" Bently asked Jill as they started off down the riverbank.

"It's been really weird ever since Jacob came here," she said. "Sometimes it will run really fast, like it is now, and sometimes it'll run really, really slow. It's very irregular, too."

"Well, isn't that just peachy."

For several days of straight blizzards and sped up time, they traveled through Narnia, along the river. They only had one more encounter with a pack of wolves, and Bently drove them off in a rage. He was still very, very angry about Pansy's arm, which just got worse and worse. The fungus was spreading up her arm, and she got weaker by the day. When he asked Jill and Eustace if they knew anything that could cure it, they said no, but Lucy might have some potion that could.

"She'd better," Bently growled. "We can't lose her."

Finally, they reached the outskirts of Cair Paraval. They decided to hunker down for the night while they made some final plans. Bently sat at the edge of their camp, watching the castle during the first clear night they had had since they had arrived in Narnia. There was light in a few of the windows, and he watched and heard the wolves guarding the castle. There must have been over two hundred of them.

Bently felt a hand on his shoulder, and he gave a start. But it was only Meggie, kneeling down beside him.

"Hey Bently, are you okay? You've been really angry these past few days." Concern showed bright in her brown eyes.

"I'm just… I don't think I could do this without Pansy," he said finally. "She knows way more magic than I do, and when we get into books where we can't use magic—"

"Only writing will save you there." Meggie reached out and made him look at her. "Look Bently, you both have your strengths. Pansy's good at magic, but you're the new master. Anything she can do with magic, you can do with writing. It'll just take a little more time maybe." Bently sighed and looked back out at Cair Paraval. "She'll be fine, Bently. Jill said that Lucy would be able to heal her. So all we need to do is break Lucy out, defeat Jacob, and everything will be fine."

"I wish I could be that optimistic, Meggie," said Bently.

"You will be, eventually," Meggie assured him. "Now rest. We attack in the morning."

* * *

**Um, yeah... Pansy's arm... I got bored xD**

**Anyways, I really like this chapter for some reason ::think: And THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for your AWESOMELY EPIC REVIEWS! They really are amazing, and they make my day. I love them and you all to death 3 And you know the drill now... 3 more awesome ones = update. And really, I'm not looking for a Bible, a few sentances are fine 3**

**~Icamane**


	8. Rainbow Strike

Bently hardly got any sleep that night. Not only was he very cold, but he was anxious. Jacob was a werewolf, not a vampire. Would Bently be able to kill him in the same way? Would Jacob burst into a pile of dust, too? Were any of his weapons going to work? And… what if they lost Pansy?

When the sun peaked up from the horizon, Bently got up. Jill had taken watch, and he found her watching the sunrise. But it didn't look right at all. It was purple.

"It's pretty," Jill said sadly. "But it's so wrong. It doesn't belong here."

"Just like Jacob."

Jill simply nodded her head.

It was a little while before they were ready to head out. Pansy could hardly walk. Her entire left arm was that sickly green now, part of her rotted flesh had actually fallen off (Bently had thrown up when he saw that bit) and it was extending well past her elbow. She looked like a zombie, and acted like one too. Bently was worried about her, but she just drew out her wand and stood stubbornly. '_Besides,_' Bently reasoned with himself. '_Where would she have to go? There aren't any people here anymore._'

The purple sun had fully risen when they set off. They had planned to attack from the shore of the beach, so they were headed for the castle at an angle. But something about the castle made Bently's hair on the back of his neck stand on end. There weren't wolves patrolling it anymore.

"Are you sure they're there?" Bently asked Jill, keeping his eyes on the seemingly deserted palace. He was sure the patrols had been real and not his imagination.

"Yes," she said cautiously. "Maybe they're sleeping?"

Bently didn't think so.

"I say, who is that on the drawbridge?" Eustace asked, shading his eyes from the purple light with his hand. They all did so, and saw a dark, tall figure standing there.

"Should we approach him?" Meggie asked. King opened his mouth to say something when they all heard a voice around them, and dark and deep one.

"So you have come, Bently McQuinn. Come inside. We'll negotiate from there." And then the figure turned around and walked inside the courtyard, leaving the door open and the drawbridge down.

Bently stood there considering for a moment. Then he made to go forward, but Meggie caught him.

"Don't do it, Bently. I think it's a trap."

"Of course it's a trap," said King. "But we don't have much of a choice, he knows we're here. Just lead with your head, Bently, not your heart."

Bently looked between the two of them. Meggie was anxious, and King was expectant. So Bently gulped and nodded. "We're going in. Keep close to me."

They walked in a tight line behind Bently, who lead as bravely as he could. He tried not to shake with every step, neither from anger nor anxiety. He knew already that this would be difficult.

They walked over the drawbridge and through the gates. The second Eustace was clear, the gate fell with a clatter, and they were trapped. But Bently tried to remain calm, even when Meggie gripped his arm tightly. He couldn't say he hadn't expected anything less.

With howls and snarls, the wolves were upon them. They snapped and lunged, and soon, the group was scattered about the courtyard edges, except for Bently, who had been chased to the center. Everyone else was being guarded by salivating, crazy-ass steroid wolves, whose eyes were red and fur tinted blue in the purple light. It was nearly noon now.

"So, you're the new 'master,' are you?" asked a voice, and that tan, shirtless fiend Jacob Black stepped out of the circle of wolves. In tow was a girl around the same age as Jill and Eustace with brown hair and a stubborn look on her face. "You don't look like much," Jacob added with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, you flat out aren't much," Bently retorted. The wolves snarled, but Jacob held up a hand to silence them.

"Hush, my brothers. So Bently, you want to get rid of me, don't you?"

"Hell yes I do," he said, gripping his wand tightly. His hand bumped his jacket, and he found the pen in his pocket. '_When the hell did I get that?_'

Jacob laughed a bark-like laugh. "Alright, I'll play your game. How about you and I have a little contest? The winner will take Narnia."

"Sounds like a plan," said Bently, and they started to circle each other slowly. Bently stepped cautiously so he wouldn't trip over a loose stone. "So what do we do? See who can howl the loudest?"

He thought he heard Pansy cough with amusement from somewhere, and he smiled, gaining confidence.

Jacob frowned. "No. Do you know the ancient art of jousting, Bently?"

"I've seen it."

"Well, prepare to participate."

Jacob gave a few short barks and a soft whimper, and a few wolves ran off. Within a minute, they herded in two unicorns made of metal, a black one with a fire mane and a white one with a rainbow mane. Bently, of course, got the white one. "Just my freaking luck," he muttered darkly as he reached out to pat the horse's neck. It gave a mechanical snort of rainbow fire in pleasure.

"The object is to knock your opponent off his unicorn," Jacob explained with a false smile.

"I'm not an idiot. Don't we need weapons?" Bently asked, setting his hands on the horse, hoping he could get on in one try.

"You won't need any," said Jacob, and he jumped on his unicorn. The second he was seated, the unicorn charged.

It came at Bently with a speed so great it shouldn't have been possible. "Oh shi—" he swore, and jumped out of the way just before it trampled him. He scrambled up on his unicorn just as Jacob and his hell unicorn were turning around for another attack. Once Bently was seated, all he could think was, "Run!" And run he did.

His unicorn took off with such a jerk that his next thought was, "Crap, stop!" and the unicorn stopped, sending him flying with a clank against its neck, hitting and bruising his right cheekbone. "It's my thoughts," he muttered to himself. "My thoughts control it."

'_Run forward!_' he commanded, gripping the unicorn around its neck. Riding bareback was even worse than riding with a saddle. And the unicorn ran forward, dodging another attack from Jacob. But then they were headed straight for one of the walls, of both the stone and wolf variety. '_Crap crap crap! TURN!_' And so the unicorn did, in almost a full circle, and he charged down Jacob. "Yeah!" he whooped. "That's what I'm talkin' about!"

But Jacob just jumped over him, creating a rainbow of fire above him. They both skidded to a stop and faced each other. "You're catching on, McQuinn," said Jacob with another false smile. "Impressive."

"It'll be even more impressive when I kick your ass!" Bently cried, and he charged again.

They just seemed to be going in circles. Bently had gotten the hang of riding this rainbow unicorn, but he just couldn't get near Jacob. The infuriating ass would just jump Bently, and Bently wasn't comfortable enough on the horse to jump himself. He was afraid he would get knocked off, and he didn't want to lose on a technicality.

'_What the hell can I do? This is literally impossible!_' he thought in frustration as he ran up and along a wall, trying to circle back around. And then heard a voice, but it was in his own head.

'_Use Rainbow Strike, my lord,_' said the voice. It was mechanical sounding, and Bently figured it could only be the unicorn. '_He won't know what hit him._'

'_Use the WHAT?_' Bently asked.

'_Line me up with him. Then command me to use it._'

'_Alright,_' Bently thought back wearily, and he guided his horse to be facing Jacob. They stood facing each other, ready to charge again.

'_Run!_' Bently commanded, and the two unicorns charged each other. Bently waited until the last possible second before he gave the order. '_Now! RAINBOW STRIKE!_'

For a few milliseconds, Bently was weightless. There were rainbows all around him, and he felt like he was the leprechaun from the Lucky Charms commercials. His unicorn was pulsing forward, and with an echoing crash, he went straight through the hell unicorn. Jacob went flying, the hell unicorn was cut cleanly in half, and Bently stopped, triumphant, a bit of rainbow still trailing behind him. And as Jacob landed with a thud on the ground, Bently's companions began to cheer, whoop, and holler.

Jacob started howling, but very few of the wolves followed suit. Most of them just looked at him with curious expressions on their faces. "What are you waiting for?" Jacob screamed. "Attack him!"

"It's over, Jacob," Bently said, dismounting his unicorn. "You're finished. Now get out."

"Never!" screamed Jacob ravenously, and he ran to the nearest of Bently's companions, which just happened to be Pansy.

"Pansy!" Bently yelled, but Jacob was slashing at the air with one hand as he restrained Pansy with the other. A black and blue swirl of space appeared, and Jacob threw Pansy inside, before setting in one foot himself.

"This isn't over, Bently McQuinn," he growled. "You've won this time, but next time you won't be so lucky." Bently lunged, but Jacob had already jumped through. The portal closed just as Bently reached for it.

He lay face-down on the cool stone ground, waiting, wishing, dreaming, _praying_ that the wolves would rush him and tear him to pieces. Even though Jacob was gone, so was Pansy, and he felt an overwhelming rush of disappointment and failure.

"Bently? Are you alright?"

Meggie's hand turned him over, and she knelt by him, concern in her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Bently grunted in reply, sitting up. Looking around, he saw that the wolves were morphing into other creatures and even people. And up in the sky, the sun was turning yellow again, and the sky blue, and the snow was melting. Spring had come again.

"Writing master! You've saved us!"

The girl named Lucy was rushing up to him now, dropping to her knees and hugging him. Bently was caught by surprise, and nearly toppled over. But she had a huge grin on her face.

"You've freed Narnia from Jacob's reign! Now we can join the fight!"

"Lucy!"

She whipped around to see a boy about Bently's age with blonde hair running to her. "Peter!" Lucy cried, and she jumped up to embrace him too. "I feared you had been turned into a wolf!"

"Yes, and Susan and Caspian and Edmund are all here somewhere too," Peter added. He turned to Bently, and offered him his hand. Bently took it, and Peter yanked him to his feet.

"Thank you, my brother," he said kindly. "You have saved Narnia, my world."

"Yeah, no problem," Bently said, forcing himself to smile.

"You look pained. Are you alright?"

Bently decided to tell the truth. "Jacob got away and took one of my fellow travelers, my best magic user."

"I'm sorry," Peter said. And he really did seem sorry. "I wish I knew of a way to help you."

"I'll help them!" Lucy said brightly. "I want to help fight against Meyer!"

"Luce, you're still a kid."

"No I'm _not!_ I'm nearly fourteen, and I've been in just as many battles as you have! Plus, I can heal people!" Lucy pulled out a bottle of red liquid and held it proudly up to the light. By now, King, Meggie, Jill, and Eustace had joined the group.

Bently's mind whirled when he saw the crystal vial. "What is that?" he asked.

"It's a cordial that can cure anything," Lucy said, excited.

"We could use someone like you."

Lucy looked shocked, but in a good way. "Oh, really?" She turned and looked up at Peter. "Peter? Can I go with them please? If they need me, then they need me!"

Peter looked nervous. "Yes, but Lucy, you can't just go off—"

"I'll be _fine_."

"We'll look after her," said Meggie. "She's not that much younger than me, and I've been fine."

"We're going to need all the help we can get if we want to take down Meyer," added King. He looked just as exhausted as Bently felt. He held the notebook tightly in his hand, along with another book.

Peter looked at them all. Everyone except Lucy was stony-faced, and she looked pleadingly up at him. Finally, he sighed. "Alright, you can go. But please Lucy, be careful."

Lucy beamed and hugged him. "I will! Thank you Peter!"

"Make sure she stays safe," Peter added to Bently. Bently nodded.

"We'll watch out for her, don't worry."

* * *

**Heeeey there it's an update xD**

**So... I love this chapter ::lmfao:**

**The rainbow unicorns are from the game Robot Unicorn Attack by Adult Swim. It's pretty much the most addictive game ever.**

**Reviews are loved, and three+ awesome ones earn a faster update. **

**Love you all!  
~Icamane**


	9. Svalbard

"So where do we go now?" Bently asked, as he, King, Lucy and Meggie walked down to the beach by Cair Paraval.

"The next book, of course," said King, handing Meggie the book he had somehow acquired. The title read, _His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass_.

"Aren't we going to try and track down Jacob and rescue Pansy?" Bently asked, his temper rising.

"Bently," Meggie started slowly. "We have no idea where he took her. And for all we know, she might be better off. Maybe that creepy arm disease went away, and she's better."

"Or he could be torturing her for information," retorted Bently. "Or brainwashing her. Or maybe she's dead."

"Don't say that," said Meggie, biting her lip. "Please don't say it."

"Well, she could be!"

"Bently, calm down," said King. "Meggie's right. The best thing for Pansy right now is for us to continue on to _Dark Materials_ and see if we can find any clues to where she is, or how to cure her. But we'll need to find her eventually, because she has the Light."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Bently cried out, extremely agitated.

"Because if I'm right, the Light will be the only thing that can get us into Oz where Meyer is."

"You're telling me this _now?_" Bently yelled, outraged. "You're telling me that when we had the light, we could have just gone into Oz and killed off Meyer?"

"Bently, you never would have succeeded," King said bluntly. "She's too powerful. She would have crushed you. You need to improve your skills by a lot if you ever want a hope of defeating her."

Bently kicked a small rock and a lot of sand into the ocean in frustration. There was nothing he could do. "Alright, then fine. Let's go into _Dark Materials_ and get this crap over with. Who'll I be up against this time?"

"Esme, I believe," said Meggie, and she opened up _The Golden Compass_ to read them into it.

"_Jordan College was the grandest and richest of all the colleges in Oxford. It was probably the largest, too, though no one knew for certain. The buildings, which were grouped around three irregular quadrangles, dated from every period from the early Middle Ages to the mid-eighteenth century. It had never been planned; it had grown piecemeal, with past and present overlapping at every spot, and the final effect was one of jumbled and squalid grandeur._"

"What in the world? This is all wrong!"

Bently opened his eyes to the biting cold of the Artic. There was ice for as far as he could see, and as he turned to look around, he found tall mountains behind him. Everyone around him, including himself, was shivering. Meggie looked very frustrated.

"No! I read us to the college, not so Svalbard!" she cried out, stamping her foot into the snow. King patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Meggie. It's not going to be perfect every time," he assured her.

"But this has never happened before!" she wailed. Bently hoped she wouldn't get too worked up about it.

"Maybe the vampire here made some kind of change in the portal jumping to make it so we couldn't come near them by jumping," Bently suggested. "I mean, if there was a smart one here, I could see them trying to do that."

In the distance, Bently heard a roar. '_Dammit, we just got here,_' he thought in annoyance, and he pulled out his wand and the elf knife, too, just to be safe.

"Lucy, can you fight?" he asked, but he saw that she already had her knife drawn, and her face was screwed up with brave determination.

Galloping towards them from the mountains was an enormous polar bear wearing armor, and bearing a rider on its back. Bently gripped his weapons tightly, his entire body freezing. If they managed to get through this one, he was going to try and conjure them all even warmer cloths. Their winter Narnian cloths were no match for this weather.

The bear stopped about ten yards away from them, and the figure got off. They held something in their hands, and they were focusing on it, not on the group of newcomers they faced. After a minute, they looked up and asked, "Are you Bently McQuinn?"

"Yes," Bently answered, shivering violently. "Who are you?"

"I am Lyra, and this is Iorek Byrnison. Who else is with you?"

"Um, well… there's Lucy Pensive from Narnia, Meggie Folchart from Inkheart, and Stephen King, the last writing master," Bently said, trying to point to everyone while still keeping his guard up. "If we're going to chit-chat, then can we do it somewhere warm?"

Lyra replied, "I guess so. Iorek Byrnison, could we go back to Svalbard to get Will and Mr. Scoreby?"

"Lyra, are you sure this is a good idea?" Bently heard a small voice ask from somewhere.

"Yes, Pan, now hush," Lyra shushed the voice.

"If they are who they say they are," the bear growled, much too Bently's surprise.

"Do you think you could carry everyone?" Lyra asked.

"It is not that far of a distance," replied Iorek, and so Bently started forward slowly. The others followed him, and they soon got a good look at their new acquaintances.

Iorek Byrnison was a great deal bigger than he had been at a distance, and just on his four paws Bently hardly came up to his shoulders. Lyra had dirty blonde hair and had a martin with her. He was snuggled inside of her parka.

"Come on Lyra," said the martin. "Let's go!"

And so everyone got on Iorek, first King and Lucy, then Meggie and Lyra, and finally Bently. They all hardly fit, and Bently nearly fell off a few times during their wild ride, and Bently wasn't sure if he enjoyed riding a polar bear or not, but it was a very interesting experience. By the time they got to where they were going, Bently was so cold he was sure he would have frostbite in several places on his person.

Svalbard turned out to be a huge fortress built into the mountain, with several bears of unusually large size wandering around, but none as big as Iorek. They all got off and followed Iorek and Lyra into the fortress stiffly.

"Will!" Lyra called as she burst through the gates, and a boy of her age and a cat walked over to them. "The alethiometer was right, they're here!"

The boy smiled. "Good, now we can finally fix things."

Next to him, Bently heard Lucy's teeth clattering. "Can we get warm first?" he asked, rubbing his own arms. Everything felt like it was about to fall off.

"Of course," said Will, and he lead them to a roaring fire in another room. They were provided with blankets, and the four of them started to finally warm up a bit. But as he started to warm up, the cold was replaced by a dull pain in Bently's chest. It felt like it was inside of him, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly where it was coming from or what was causing it. It grew as he got warmer, and at one point, he almost wished he was back out in the cold.

"Thank you," King said when Will, Lyra, and their two animals had come back to check on them. "Now, to business. You said that we're here to fix things. What exactly is wrong?"

"Esme is here," Lyra said fearfully. "She took over and cast some sort of spell to make everyone think she is Mrs. Coulter. Ever since then, she's amassed an army, and she's now trying to put all the worlds under the rule of herself and the Magisterium."

"She's got to be stopped," Will added. "It's getting worse and worse every day. This world is getting darker by the day from all the storms she's causing."

"Where is she?" Bently asked.

"South," Lyra replied. "She's made her base in the College."

Ignoring the growing pain in his chest, Bently said, "Alright, when do we head out?"

Lyra smiled. "Tomorrow, if you'd like. Mr. Scoreby said we can take his balloon. He's pretty sure we'll all fit."

"Can we sleep somewhere?" Meggie pipped up. She looked really, really tired. And when Bently thought about it, he hadn't slept in forever, either.

"Sure," Lyra said. "I'll ask Iorek Byrnison to get you all some rooms, and we'll get prepared. It'll be a few days flight to get there."

"Thank you."

Bently woke up with an unbearable pain in his chest. He couldn't open his eyes, and it literally felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. He yelled, screamed, made any sort of sound he could to try and get some help. He cried out once more, and then it was over. He sat up, panting, with sweat pouring down his face. He felt a weight on the bed by his feet, and he yelled again. Sitting there was a huge albino tiger, looking at him with curious amber eyes. Bently was frozen with fear. How had it gotten in here? He clutched at his chest to see if there were perchance gaping claw gashes there, but there was nothing. His skin and shirt were still intact.

"Hello, Bently," said the tiger with a cool, feminine voice. "It's good to finally be free."

"Wh-what?" Bently asked, his mouth dry.

The tiger shook her head, seeming to smile. "Shame shame, Bently, that you wouldn't even recognize your own dæmon."

"Dæmon?" Bently asked. He had no idea at all what was going on.

"Yes Bently. Did you not see Lyra and Pan? Or Will and Kirjava? Pan and Kirjava are their dæmons, just as I am yours."

"But… what _is_ a… dæmon?"

"A projection of your soul," the tiger explained. "Sort of like how a Patronus is in Pansy's world, just dæmons go everywhere with their human."

"What's your name?" Bently asked rather bluntly. His heart rate was finally starting to go down.

"Harlima," she replied.

"Do the others have dæmons?"

At that exact moment, he heard Meggie, who was next door to him, screaming. Harlima gave Bently a wry smile, and she said, "I guess you'll find out, won't you?"

Bently threw the covers off himself and rushed out of his room and into Meggie's. Harlima followed, sticking close to his leg. He burst into her room to find Meggie frozen in fear and a border collie dog on her bed, panting happily.

"Bently, what's going on?" Meggie asked, her voice cracking and way higher than it usually was.

"It's fine Meggie, it's just a projection of your soul!" said Bently wildly. He sounded like he was either a drug addict or a crazy person. Or possibly both.

"_What?_"

"Just… come on!" Bently grabbed her arm and helped her out of the room. "We'll find Lyra and she can explain it to you."

In the hallway, they found King and Lucy, who also had dæmons with them; a large St. Bernard and a parakeet. "Bently, what's going on?" King asked as calmly as he could. Lucy looked frightened too, but not as much as Meggie.

"Look, just follow me, and we'll find Lyra and she'll explain—dammit, where are we?"

Bently had been walking and talking so fast he hadn't paid any attention to where he was leading everyone. Now they stood at the crossroads of several tunnels, and they all looked identical.

"Should we double back?" Lucy suggested.

"Good idea," Bently agreed, and so they went back down the hallway where they had come from, but it got there no where.

"We're lost," said Meggie in defeat, and she slid down the wall and set her forehead on her knees.

"Don't worry, Meggie, someone's bound to find us," said Lucy, and she sat down next to her and set her arm around Meggie. For someone who had just joined them, Lucy had warmed up to the group immediately.

Bently pulled out his wand and decided to try a spell. "Point Me," he muttered, and the wand spun in his hand, but he suddenly felt so drained that he nearly passed out. Bracing himself against the wall, he slid down it, holding his head in his hands. Harlima gave him a look of concern and nuzzled him with the top of her head.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Bently glanced around, and no one had looked at her in real shock. He figured only he could tell what she was saying.

"There's practically no magic here," he said in defeat, putting his wand away. "I'll have to rely completely on writing."

"Is that bad?"

"Well, I'm certainly not as good at writing," Bently said dismally.

"Then improve."

"Bently, who are you talking to?" Lucy asked.

"Harlima," he replied blankly, then mentally facepalmed himself. They obviously didn't know who that was.

"Who?" King asked.

"She's my… dæmon," Bently said a bit lamely.

"A what?" Meggie asked, looking up from her knees.

"Dæmon. You see these animals?" The other three nodded. "They're your dæmons. They're sort of like physical projections of your soul, almost like how Patronuses are in Pansy's world. You can communicate with them, and they have names," Bently added as he saw King's St. Bernard sit obediently by his feet and look up at him with bright eyes.

"Good Bently," said Harlem, yawing wildly and showing off her very long, sharp teeth. "Very good. You're learning fast."

Bently found that sleeping in the hallway wasn't that bad. He had curled up next to Harlima (who was very warm and soft) and was fast asleep until he was shaken awake the next morning.

"There you are!" he heard Lyra say as he yawned and stretched, trying to get himself awake. "Why weren't you in your rooms? And where did your dæmons come from? They weren't with you when you got here."

"They sort of… burst out of us," said King. "Bently was actually trying to find you when he got us lost."

"Shuddup," Bently muttered, standing. "Are we ready to go, Lyra?"

"Yes, we just need you four and we can go."

"Lead the way."

And so Lyra and her dæmon led them out of the maze of passages and out the gates into the snowy entrance where they had come in from last night. Except there was a little more activity this time.

On the ground was a huge half-inflated balloon with a very big basket, one that would hold all of them and then some. Iorek Byrnison, Will, and another, older man were loading up the balloon with supplies.

"Everyone, this is Mr. Scoreby," Lyra said, introducing them to the older man. His dæmon was a hare.

"Howdy there," he said, tipping his cowboy hat. "You must be the heroes."

"Yeah, I'm Bently, and this is Meggie, Lucy, and Stephen King."

"Here," said Will, handing Bently and the others parkas. "You'll need these."

Lucy's parakeet (who's name was apparently Carmichael) ducked itself into her jacket with a tweet.

"Finally," Meggie muttered, pulling on her parka with a shiver. "Can we get going?"

"Right away, little miss," said Mr. Scoreby, and he continued inflating the balloon. And a half hour later, they were on their way to go fight another emo pansy vampire.

* * *

**Lulz xD**

**I think the parts where they're in this series and in Jurassic Park are my favorites. And Harlima is awesome. Just sayin'.**

**Reviews?**

**~Icamane**


	10. Haven't The Foggiest

The air was very cold, and Bently's nose was red from it, but the rest of him was warm. The parka didn't let any bit of cold in, and for that he was thankful. He spent most of the flight sitting on the floor with King and their dæmons, learning writing. It was possibly the most frustrating thing he had ever done in his entire life.

He just couldn't get anything to sound quite right. He could do the little things, like write up a pen who's ink would never freeze (that was useful), but he couldn't make any big changes yet, like make the air warmer or the trip shorter. How was he going to kill the vampires if he couldn't write when it counted?

"Try again. You're forcing it, that's why it's not working," said King, handing Bently back the notebook after shaking his head. Bently ground his teeth.

"Why is this so hard?" he muttered angrily.

"Patience, Bently," said Harlima, flicking her tail lazily. "You just have to find the secret, and then everything will come easily."

"This is impossible," Bently summed up after staring at a new blank page for more than a minute, and tossed the notebook to the side.

"What are you trying to do?"

Lyra had plopped herself down next to the grumpy Bently. King had given up and stood over by Mr. Scoreby. The two had seemed to get along pretty well.

"Nothing," Bently grunted, trying to get the notebook back, but Lyra snatched it up. Her eyes scanned over it.

"Are you trying to write?"

"Maybe," said Bently irritably. He really wasn't in the mood.

"Is it like trying to read the alethiometer?" Lyra asked suddenly. She didn't really seem offended by his rudeness.

"The—what?" Bently asked, frowning.

Lyra just smiled mysteriously and pulled out a leather pouch from around her neck. She opened it and carefully extracted a large, golden compass from inside. Except when she opened it up, there were symbols, not degrees, around the edges.

"Is that it?" Bently asked, mentioning to the strange compass.

"Yes," Lyra said, letting it settle properly in her hands. "It lets me know things… the truth."

She closed her eyes briefly, and when they opened, they stayed fixed on the compass. Bently didn't bother her, merely watched until she was finished and came out of her trance. She looked rather pleased when she did.

"What? What did it tell you?"

"You'll find out," Lyra said mysteriously.

After a moment, Bently asked, "How do you do that?"

"Read the alethiometer?"

"Yeah."

"I don't quite know," started Lyra slowly. "I just sort of go into this trance… I slip into it, make my mind blank. And then it just starts moving for me, and I can keep up, and everything makes sense."

"Like… Occlumency," said Bently mostly to himself.

"What?"

"It's… hard to explain," said Bently, shifting a bit uncomfortably. "It's sort of a way of preventing people from reading your mind. You have to make your mind blank in order for it to work."

"Well, maybe that's what you're missing," Lyra reasoned. "Will used the same principle to open up portals when he still had the Knife."

"Portals? Knife?"

"Oh, yes. The Subtle Knife. It's very powerful. One side will cut through any material you can think of, and the other will cut open the invisible matter, making portals between dimensions."

"So… Will's like your Portal Jumper? Like what Meggie is for me?"

"I don't know, what can Meggie do?"

"She can read anything and have it come true. She can read things in and out of books, even change what's going on in them. That's how we got here, and that's why it's so important that my writing is perfect. Because if my writing's good enough, then when she reads it, it'll happen."

"So, if you wrote about how Esme died, and Meggie read it, it would happen?"

"Theoretically yes, but I'm having trouble getting everything to sound right. I get everything King's trying to teach me, and I really am trying to use it, but it's just so hard."

"Well… maybe you need to slip into that trance."

Lyra got up and walked away to go look out over the edge of the balloon, leaving Bently with some new ideas and hope. He would work on clearing his mind every night now, and write every day. '_It'll be like Harry trying to learn Occlumency,_' he told himself. '_Except, hopefully, I won't fail._'

"Hey Bently, I thought you might want to hear this."

Now Meggie was sitting next to him. She had another book in her lap, and Bently wondered where all these books kept coming from.

"I just had word from Neville. They haven't seen Pansy at all, but they're trying to search as many of the infected books as they can."

_Pansy_. Bently hadn't thought about her since he discovered Harlima (who was resting her paws on his legs, at the moment), and guilt surged through him.

"Alright."

"It's getting worse out there, though," Meggie added, her voice grim. "_Jurassic Park_ is the worst right now, so that's where we'll head there after you've taken care of Esme here."

"You mean we've," Bently said. "I can hardly use magic here, it'll be you and me."

"Alright, after we've taken care of Esme," Meggie agreed. "But Meyer is trying to take Hogwarts again. They've held off so far, but we need to hurry. She's trying to expand, and we can't let this get out of hand."

"I think it's past out of hand, but whatever. How do you keep getting all these books?"

"Mo and I had sorted them out before you came, and Pansy had put an Expanding Charm on my bag so that it would hold everything. Since it's still working, I'm assuming she's still alive, yes?"

"Yeah, that's the general rule."

"Good. I'm sure she's doing alright, Bently."

"Yeah, I guess."

Stephanie was furious. First Edward, then Emmett, and now Jacob was crawling back to her. But at least he bore a prisoner.

"Here, it's that Potter character, Pansy," Jacob said, throwing the girl to the floor at Stephanie's feet. Her arm was rotting from the poison that Jacob had given all the wolves fangs. She was barely conscious, but she made an effort to look up at Stephanie.

"So, how does it feel to be defeated?" Stephanie asked, a smirk played upon her flawless lips.

"What are you talking about?" Pansy grunted out painfully. "It's you who's losing, Meyer. Lightning McQueen's going to kill all your fairies butts, and then yours."

Stephanie flushed with rage. "Jacob!" she barked.

"Yes?" he called back, exhausted.

"Prepare my laptop," she said with evil glee. "Our little Pansy is going to be taking a trip to the Blank World."

"How much longer?" Lucy asked. Her parakeet, Kokome, was flitting around her head, a green streak in the growing sunlight. Bently, Lucy, Will and Mr. Scoreby had been up since before the sun, trying to navigate the final leg of their journey to Jordan College. Bently had at least managed to write them in food, water, and gas, so they thankfully hadn't had to make any stops, but now he was very ready to get off and onto solid ground. Bently still didn't exactly trust the balloon.

"We should put down around mid-day," said Mr. Scoreby, adjusting the heat of the balloon.

"Isn't that bad though?" Will asked. "Shouldn't we want to land under the cover of darkness?"

"Yes, but we can't circle either," Mr. Scoreby reasoned.

"What if," Bently started, suddenly struck with a possibly brilliant idea. "There was suddenly a lot of fog around the college?"

Mr. Scoreby considered it for a moment. "I guess, but it would be hard to land safely."

"Bently, what are you thinking?" Lucy asked.

"Hang on," said Bently, sitting down and scrambling for the notebook and pen. The notebook was fairly trashed by now. Lots of the pages were dirty, some corners were torn off, and a few pages were just barely clinging on to the binding. And it was already nearly three fourths full. '_Maybe I can snitch a new one at the college,_' Bently thought as he settled himself, trying to make his mind blank. He held the pen lightly, really feeling its cool metal in his hand. His fingers skimmed over the pages, slightly wavy from the snow both here and in Narnia. And then, just like Lyra said it would, everything clicked. And he wrote:

"_The balloon wa_ardHas _gliding through the day with the gentle wind, carrying no sign of animosity. But as the day wore on and the balloon got closer to Jordon College, the sky grew grayer and yellower all at the same time. As Mr. Scoreby descended the balloon, they found themselves in the midst of a very thick fog. Such fog was uncommon near the college, and yet here it was. With his skill and Lyra's knowledge of every nook and cranny of the college, Mr. Scoreby navigated the balloon safely to the ground without hassle from neither environment nor person._"

Bently ran out of things to say, and ending it there. But as he read through it, the paragraph sounded decent, if not pretty damn good. By this time, a few more rays of light had peaked out from the horizon, and King was awake.

"King, I—I think I've got it," Bently said a bit hesitantly, and he handed King the notebook.

"Hmm, let's see…"

King's voice trailed off as he began to read. Bently saw something glowing in his eyes, be he wasn't sure if that was some emotion or just the new sunlight. When King had finished, he handed Bently back the notebook, and he was smiling.

"Bently, I think you finally got it. But whether it was skill or luck, we'll find out later. Give it a try with Meggie when she wakes up."

Waiting for Meggie to wake was agonizingly slow, and Bently had no where to pace, so he just looked out over the edge of the basket. Harlima was sort of standing next to him on her back legs, her front paws on the edge of the basket.

"I think I did it, Harlima," Bently said quietly, watching the ground bellow them. "I really think I did."

"We shall see," she said, her long pink tongue swiping over her snout, "when Meggie awakes."

And finally, she woke up. Bently didn't mean to bombard her, but he did out of anxiety. He wanted to see if it would work.

"Please Meggie? I really think I got it this time," he said, handing her the notebook.

"Alright Bently, just calm down," Meggie replied, yawning, and she read it. The words rolled pleasingly right out of her mouth, and settled around Bently like how the fog was supposed to.

But nothing happened. No fog, no nothing. Bently clenched his teeth and fists in frustration.

"Don't worry Bently," Meggie said, trying to reassure him. "It was real close, I bet it'll work next time."

"Whatever, I'm sleeping," Bently muttered, and he curled up next to Harlima, and shut his eyes.

He didn't actually sleep, more of laid there thinking about what he could have possibly done wrong, what would happen now, if they would be caught at the college, and Pansy. He wondered a lot about Pansy, and if she was okay. He was just about to really drift off to sleep when and excited shriek startled him.

"Bently! Bently, look! It worked! _It worked!_"

Bently's eyes snapped open and he shot up to see fog drifting over the edge of the basket, creeping up the balloon, and swallowing them whole. He jumped up and looked out over the basket to see nothing but fog bellow them and the occasional ornament from a very tall building.

"We're here," said Lyra, grinning. "Well done, Bently."

Meggie simply hugged him in happiness. Bently himself was speechless.

"See, you can do it," said Harlima a bit condescendingly, rubbing her enormous head against his leg, threatening to topple him.

It was a careful and suspenseful decent to the ground. Bently kept expecting for them to run into a tree or for the roof of a building to tear open the basket, but nothing of the sort happened. It really was working.

With a gentle bump, they landed on the damp grass. They climbed out of the basket as Mr. Scoreby deflated the balloon. The fog parted ominously, showing the front of a grand, stone building.

"We're here," whispered Lyra. "Welcome to Jordon College."

* * *

**The chapter title is a bit of a line from the movie version of _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire._**

**I want to thank my most recent reviewers, yellow14, Blackbeltbrea, and J'Adore to read. You guys rock my socks off ;)**

**~Icamane**


	11. I Thought I Won

"So, you lead the way," Bently said to Lyra. She nodded, and she and Pan lead the way. Everyone followed behind, and their dæmons, too. At the tall front doors, Lyra had everyone stop and group together.

"Alright, the college is huge, and Esme could be anywhere. We'll split up and search for her."

"And what if we find her?" Lucy asked.

"Wait," Bently said, whipping out the notebook and pen again. A few minutes later, he handed it to Meggie.

She read:

"_Lyra reached into her pocket to find a small, black stone. Everyone else had one too, and when Lyra squeezed it, her stone and all the others started to vibrate. It was like a cell phone on silent mode. Upon further examination, Lyra found that all the stones had a glowing L on them._"

And sure enough, as soon as Meggie was done, Bently felt a weight in his pocket. He pulled out the black stone.

"Genius," said Will. "So give everyone a buzz if you need help. How will we find each other?"

"We'll just stick to the areas we search," Lyra said. "King, Mr. Scoreby, you two should check the library and towers. Will, Lucy, and Meggie, go underground and check the cellars. Bently, you and I will check the middle level and the Dean's Office. I'll show you all where everything generally is."

King pushed the doors open, and they crept inside. Lyra pointed everyone in the right direction, and then she and Bently took off together, Pan and Harlima trailing behind them.

The halls were empty and silent. There was very pale, dim light coming in through the windows because of the fog. Bently had shed his parka and pulled his cloak back on, and was now re-securing Gryffindor's Sword around his waist. He tucked the notebook away in the very large cloak pocket along with the pen and wand, and now just had his elvish knife out. Magic still wasn't any use to him, as the simplest spells drained him to exhaustion in seconds.

"I don't get it," said Lyra, frowning and pushing her dirty blonde hair out of her eyes. "Where is everyone?"

"Esme probably… got rid of them."

"What? How?"

"Well, in Narnia, Jacob had turned everyone into an army of huge wolves. And at Hogwarts when I freed it a while ago, all the students had become these weird zombie things."

"So you're saying she made them into some sort of—oh, so that's where her army came from."

"Yeah, I'm betting so."

"Well, I think she's—"

But Lyra stopped when she heard a voice from inside the office they were about to go into. It was a soft, female voice, and it seemed to be chiding someone.

"Are you sure that it's their balloon?" she asked, then paused.

'_Talking on the phone,_' Bently guessed.

"Well, then I'll sound the alarm." They heard a click as the phone was placed down.

Lyra nodded to Bently, and they burst into the room. "You'll do no such thing, Esme!"

At the Dean's desk sat a woman with pale skin and long dark hair. Her amber eyes glinted malevolently, and he dæmon, a small, sleek black panther, snarled. Harlima growled back, and Bently could feel that threat vibrate through her and into his leg.

"So, you managed to get here, did you?" Esme asked, her voice cold. "You're lucky, you know. I just sent of my freshest troupes to find the witches."

"Well, you won't get very far. It's over, Esme," said Bently, his grip tight on his elf knife.

"Oh?" said Esme, smirking. She pulled from a sheath on her hip a golden, double-edged knife. "Is it really?" she asked, and she began cutting the air. At first Bently just thought she was mad, but then Lyra screamed when suddenly there wasn't a desk, but a square of forest. "Goodbye," Esme said with triumph, and she slipped inside the forest.

"No!" cried out Lyra, and she dived in after her. Bently thought enough to clench the stone in his pocket has hard as he could, making it vibrate, before diving in after her.

Lucy was the first to feel the vibrating. She stopped and pulled it out of her pocket, seeing a burning orange B in it. "Bently's in trouble!" she said, and Meggie and Will stopped. "They must of found her, where's the Dean's office?"

"This way," said Will, and he ran back down the dark passage they had just come down and back up the stairs. Lucy followed, and then Meggie. Will ran as fast as he could, leading them in the direction Lyra and Bently had gone. They twisted down some passages, and he hoped he was leading them in the right direction. They found the wooden door half-open that bore the golden legend; **Dean's Office**. Will pushed the door open to find no one in the room, but there was a floating square of forest right there in the middle of the desk.

"Come on, Esme must have used the knife," he said, and he dove into the square of forest, his dæmon following him. Lucy was next with Kokome, and finally Meggie and Shep. And so they began chasing after Bently, Lyra, and Esme.

Lyra and Bently ran as fast as they could after Esme, but she was simply way too fast. The vampires had one thing on their side, and that was speed. But they could easily keep track of her, when they found the holes between worlds.

Currently, they were racing across a desert, sweating profusely. They had left the forest far behind, and could now see a square of rocks up in the distance.

"We were not meant for this kind of heat," Harlima panted as she ran along side Bently.

"You said it," Bently agreed, swallowing spit. It felt like everything inside him was sticking together. "What are those rocks up there?" he asked Lyra, who's hair was sticking to her forehead from her sweat.

"I think they're the Republic of Heaven, or at least what it used to be," said Lyra breathlessly. "If it is, it's going to be a bit harder to follow her."

"Why?"

"Because there are lots of cliffs and rocks."

They ran further, and dove into the next world. Lyra was right, it was very cliffy, and Bently would have fallen off if Harlima hadn't caught his cloak in her powerful jaws. Then they stumbled on, their sweat turning cold as they ran along the cliff edges through clouds. All Bently could see was Lyra and Pan running in front of him, the wall of the cliff where the path was carved and where he ran his hand along, and the clouds all around them. And then suddenly, they were into another world, one with a flawlessly starry night, and a battered old brick path.

Then there was a screaming noise from somewhere that sounded similar to the Ring Wraiths from Middle Earth.

"Spectres! Run faster!" Lyra screamed, terrified. From the sky flew down dark shadows, and Bently was reminded of Dementors. He knew he didn't want to tangle with one, anyways.

Lyra led the way, running like hell towards an abandoned town where there was a large stone tower. The shadows were coming at them faster and faster. Lyra was aiming for the patch of sunlight and a golden field that was floating at the tower.

"Come on Bently!" she yelled. She was quite a bit farther ahead of Bently, and Pan dodged into the field. The Spector's screams were coming closer now. They seemed to be right on his heels.

"Run Bently!" Harlima urged, springing through the gap now. Bently dived, and he rolled into the sunlight and a grassy field. He looked up behind him, and he saw the Spectres had stopped, screaming furiously. No sunshine for them.

"Ahh! Bently!"

Bently whipped around to see in the distance at the edge of a forest, the figure of a woman holding someone. Esme had caught Lyra.

Bently struggled up and started running again. Down the slope he galloped as fast as he could without falling over. Harlima ran beside him, snarling furiously.

Esme stood in the center of a compacted, dirt circle, her while skin sparkling intensely. Lyra was struggling in her arms, and the knife was near her throat. Esme's panther held down Pan with a paw.

"Leave me, McQuinn, or little Lyra's throat will be mine," Esme said greedily, lowering her mouth towards Lyra's neck as far as she could while still keeping an eye on Bently.

Bently didn't know what to do. He wasn't much of a hero — he had always had people to help him. He was stuck.

Suddenly, Harlima lunged at the smaller panther. This distracted Esme, and Bently did the first thing that popped into his mind. He whipped out his wand and yelled, "Expelliarmus!"

The knife went flying out of Esme's hand, and Lyra to the ground. Lyra scrambled away instantly, and Esme had no idea what was going on. Pan escaped from under the panther, and it and Harlima rolled away in a furry of claws and teeth. The panther was lighter and faster, but Harlima had size and power on her side. But Bently could feel every cut the panther's claws made in her, every bite which stung deep down.

Bently fell to his knees. His vision was getting hazy, and everything seemed to have drained out of him with that last bit of magic. He had enough sense to hide his wand again before Esme was towering over him, grasping the knife.

"You lose here, Bently McQuinn," she screamed, a mad look in her eyes. As she brought down the knife, Bently thrust up his hand in a last effort of defense.

At first he felt nothing but the blood running down his arm in a flood, but then he screamed. The pain was terrible, and tears came to his eyes. He collapsed, grasping his injured hand. His pinky and a good section of his right hand had been completely severed and his ring finger skinned. He could do nothing but focus on all the pain he was feeling, not only in his hand, but in the pain he felt from Harlima. He could hear her yowling in pain, too. She must be able to feel his pain as well.

A shadow grew over him and he knew it was the end. Esme was going to kill him right now, right here, and after he was dead, she'd probably drink his blood, that sick, hypocritical, sparkling—

"_No!_"

Bently heard Lucy's cry, and a thump, and then the shadow of Esme was gone. Bently groaned and looked up to see Meggie and Will there, too. Will had picked up the knife, an irate look in his eyes. Meggie was kneeling down to him, hysterical.

"Bently! Bently, can you hear me?"

Bently groaned again in response.

"Bently, you've got to write something! It's the only way!"

She dug around in his cloak and found the notebook and pen. She pulled a bit of her cloak around him and started trying to absorb the blood with it.

"Please Bently!"

Bently sat up with her help and closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind. But it was proving to be impossible to do. There were sounds of Lyra, Lucy and Will fighting Esme, Meggie crying, Harlima and the panther fighting, and now a new sound, one that sounded like a flock of killer birds screeching. The pain in his hand made his eyes bleary, and there were still pains that he felt from Harlima.

He took a deep breath, and thought of a void. A great, black void filled with nothing. The kind of void he'd like to send Meyer and her world into. Then the words came to him. His writing was sloppy, but Meggie could read it. She read in a shaky voice:

"_The blood on the ground matched the ruby red of Esme's furious eyes. She didn't know how these mere mortals had followed her, but at least she had triumphed in injuring the writer. The Great Birds were on their way, and there was no stopping her now._

_But just as she thought this, her eyes grew wide. The boy who had just come, Will, had gotten through her defense. He had driven the Subtle Knife into her heart, buried to the hilt. She had but a moment to think before she burst into a pile of orange, glittering dust._"

Bently looked up, and saw it happen right before his eyes. Esme got distracted by Meggie's words, and before she knew it, they had come true. Will buried the knife into her chest, and she exploded into dust. Will stood there in shock, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Here come some Tualapi!" cried Lyra, pointed to the sea. There, a great flock of white birds road on the waves, but as soon as Esme was gone, they turned around and started back out to sea.

"Well, that was easy," moaned Bently, laying back in the grass. He thought he might pass out any moment.

"No it wasn't," said Lyra, panting. She held Pan in her arms securely. "We need to get you and Harlima to Mr. Scoreby. He has some medicine from the bears that can help with your hand."

"First, I need to close all the windows the vamp opened," said Will. He cut a new square in the air that opened up to the inside of the college. "Go through, I'll trace back and close the rest of the windows."

Lucy helped Bently up, and he and the three girls went through the window and back to the college. Will pinched it closed behind them, and they were left in the empty stone halls. The fog had cleared, and it seemed warmer and more welcoming.

"Mr. Scoreby? King?" Meggie called out, and they followed Lyra and Pan out of the college.

Outside, the sky was blue. There were people now, playing with their dæmons. The deflated balloon was there, along with King and Mr. Scoreby. They gave a start when they saw Bently's injury.

"Esme decided I would be better off with just nine fingers," Bently joked weakly, cradling his injured hand. He had lost a lot of blood.

"Do you think he could write himself a new finger? Or that you could?" Meggie asked King fearfully. King shook his head.

"I highly doubt it. You can't just write that someone dropped dead, can you? You have to give a reason for it. And in all the worlds I've visited, in not one of them could we truly replace it."

"Let me get you something to heal it up," Mr. Scoreby said, and his hare brought out a small package from inside the basket. She gave it to Mr. Scoreby, who handed it to Bently.

"This might help," he said. But Lucy got a bright look on her face, and she dug through her cloak, looking for something on her person.

"No, try this!" she said triumphantly, pulling her small vial of healing potion out of a pouch. "We'll try this first!"

She carefully popped open the cap and held Bently's injured hand in her free one. Slowly, she poured a drop of the potion onto his hand. There was a slight burning sensation in the wound, but it closed up before his eyes. The flesh didn't regrow, but it was healed.

"Well, I'll be damned," said Mr. Scoreby in wonder. "Bently, you've got a keeper there!"

Lucy blushed and put away the potion. Just then, Will burst out of the college doors, looking pleased.

"All fixed! The windows are closed, and I've got the knife back. All's well."

"Now what?" King asked. "What's the next book?"

"_Jurassic Park,_" informed Meggie. "But—"

"But what?"

"What about our dæmons? What'll happen to them?" she asked, biting her lip.

"They should go back inside of you. I mean, they'll still be with you, you just won't be able to see them," said Will. "That's how it is for me when I visit my world. We don't have dæmons there."

Meggie sighed, and Bently did too. He looked down into Harlima's amber eyes. He had grown accustomed to seeing her by him, sleeping in her fur. "Will I ever see you again?" Bently asked her, feeling a deep prang of sadness as he wrapped his arms around her strong neck.

"Fret not," she said. "I'll be with you, on the inside."

As Meggie pulled out the next book, Bently clenched his eyes shut and held onto Harlima's fur.

Meggie chose a passage and read:

"_They were standing in the living room of Hammond's elegant bungalow, set back among palm trees in the northern sector of the park. The living room was airy and comfortable, fitting with a half-dozen video monitors showing the animals in the park. The file Wu had brought, stamped ANIMAL DEVELOPMENT: VERSION 4.4, lay on the coffee table_."

* * *

**So... you could tell I got bored during NaNo... poor Bently xD But seriously, he needed to be maimed. **

**In case you're wondering, he's missing like... a lot of his hand. Look at your hand. See where the pinky is? Take off all the flesh of the hand between that finger and your wrist (mentally). That's what Bently's hand looks like.**

**Thank you to yellow14, AmyLisa, and Blackbeltbrea for your reviews. I love you guys :)**

**~Icamane**


	12. Raptor Slayer

Bently felt Harlima's soft fur slip through his fingers, then a warm sensation in his chest, and when he opened his eyes, he was in a humid, rich-looking bungalow.

"Well, I got it right this time," Meggie said happily, putting the book back in her bag.

The bungalow was empty, much like Bently had expected. He had gotten used to most of the people who populated these worlds to either be possessed, transfigured, or just gone.

"Okay, where too?" Bently asked, straitening up. His hand was still aching and felt very, very weird.

"We need to find Dr. Grant so he can tell us what's going on in this book," said King, and he lead the way out of the bungalow. Bently caught up and walked with him, a little ahead of the girls.

"King?"

"Yeah? How's your hand?"

"It still feels really funny. Do you know if…?"

"If injuries are permanent?" King asked grimly. Bently nodded. King brushed back the salt and pepper hair that covered his ears, and Bently saw that King was missing a small chunk off the top of his ear. "You might have to do a bit more explaining though," he added. "Although I'm sure if we tried hard enough, we could write you a fake finger until you can figure something out."

Bently sighed and ran his hand gingerly along the healed wound. The skin was smooth and there wasn't a scar, but it was the weirdest sensation ever. He was not only missing his finger, but most of the knuckle and muscle from that side of his hand.

"Shh," King said, holding out an arm to stop them. They all stopped and listened intently. At first, Bently didn't hear anything, but then he heard a soft breathing, and a slight rustling in the bushes. Slowly, King pulled his knife, and then Bently and Lucy followed suit.

"Run to the compound, as fast as possible," whispered King so softly Bently didn't think he had heard him. And then without warning, King was sprinting towards a large white roof that stood out above the trees. Without really thinking, Bently's legs whisked him away at the fastest possible speed.

'_Run, run, run away from all your problems,_' Bently couldn't help but think as his heart pounded in his ears, and he thought his blood vessels in his neck might explode from the fast-flowing blood. Behind him, he could hear Lucy and Meggie running, and he followed King up towards the compound he must had been talking about. He took the steps three at a time and burst through the doors. He could have sworn he could hear a rustling and some sort of animal noises in the bushes outside the building.

King took many twists and turns, almost like he knew where he was going. Bently couldn't afford to glance behind him, but he could hear both Meggie and Lucy still behind him. He almost reached for his wand, but then remembered that this was a world like his own: there was no magic here to use. After several more turns, they found themselves going down a switch-back ramp that lead to a door.

Through the large glass windows, Bently could see an ample sized control room, filled with dozens of computers. But they were older computers, not the sleek kind Bently was used to using. No, these were the big, clucky, white kind of computers that people used when PC's first came around.

And in the middle of the room was the dusty man who had been in the Great Hall: Dr. Grant.

When the doctor saw them, he ran over and opened the door, allowing the four companions into the room. Grant shut the door firmly behind them, and relocked it.

"What took you so long?" Grant asked.

"We—had some other—books to take care of," Meggie gasped out.

"That and Bently decided to go losing a finger," King joked, and Bently held up his four-fingered hand.

Grant gave him a sympathetic smile. "Just hope you don't lose more than that while you're here."

"Why were we running? Where _are _we?" asked Lucy, a bit irritated. She did not enjoy all the marathons they had been running today.

"We're in Jurassic Park—oh right, you don't know about that book…" said Meggie. "It's this really popular science fiction book about cloning dinosaurs."

"And now everything's completely messed up," said Grant. "That vampire psychopath Carlisle did something to all the dinosaurs and he can now control them. He's amassed an army of them in the T-rex exhibit, and he's got the velociraptors posted all around the compound. Everyone else is… dead."

"So that's what we heard? Velociraptors?" Bently asked.

King nodded. "I've read this book many times, but I never thought I'd actually be here one day."

"Well, glad to see you can navigate yourself," said Grant. "Now, let's figure out what to do before the raptors find us. I'm sure they followed you at least to the doors."

Slowly, Grant pulled up a map of the park and started showing them where Carlisle had the dinosaurs. He muttered occasional how he hated computers, but Bently didn't exactly pay attention to that. He was worried about how in the world they could get _to_ Carlisle in order to kill him.

"We've got a small stock of guns, but King, you and I should be the ones to handle them," said Grant, pointing over to the corner. King nodded.

"No, go for it, I hate guns," said Meggie in disgust.

"And I have no idea what's going on," said Lucy simply. "All I know is I can heal just about anything."

"And I can write," added Bently. "If we can get somewhere safe, I'm sure we could come up with something."

"I guess that could work," said King. "Now if we can just—"

"AHH!"

Everyone looked at Lucy, who was staring at the glass with an absolutely terrified look on her face.

On the other side of the glass was an animal Bently had only seen in the movie of the book he was currently in: a velociraptor. It's brown and red scaled body was about as tall as he was, and it's long, fanged snout was sort of grinning horribly. It's eyes were pitch black, and they were fixed on Lucy.

"Shit," King muttered, and he started to move towards the gun corner.

"No!" Grant hissed. "No sudden movements!"

But the raptor just stared at Lucy, who was completely speechless. She looked very pale, perhaps nauseated. Bently's hand itched for the sword at his side. If it tried to get in…

And with a crash, it jumped through the window. Everything happened at once, and later, Bently wondered how he had managed to do it. The raptor was moving so fast it seemed impossible. It moved as fast as the vampires had been moving. King and Grant went for the guns, and Meggie ducked under a table. But Lucy was frozen to the spot, looking like a child from a horror movie who had just witnessed her parent's deaths. Bently drew out Gryffindor's Sword and swung it over his head. Leaping, he brought it down just as the raptor was nearing Lucy, severing its head. The head and body fell separately to the floor, it's eyes blinking rapidly and it's body twitching. Only then did Lucy scream again.

"It's alright, it's dead," Bently reassured her, dropping the sword to his side so he could pull Lucy into a tight one-armed hug. She shook in his embrace, but didn't allow herself to cry.

"Come on," said Grant, cocking a gun while King loaded his. "We need to get out of here and to somewhere that's safe."

"Wh—where will that be?" Meggie asked shakily as she came out from under the desk. "They're everywhere."

"If we can get into the T-rex exhibit and up a very tall tree, they shouldn't be able to reach us," said Grant. "I've been up several of them. We'll just need to find one of those jeeps so we can get there relatively safely."

"I think there's one near where we came in," said King, who was pocketing more ammunition. "You mean those funny-looking green jeeps?"

"Yes."

"And we need to get there without drawing any more attention," added Meggie.

"Are you sure you're alright, Lucy?" Bently asked, looking at her with concern.

"Yes," she muttered, drawing her knife back out. "I'm fine now. That was just, so…"

"We get it," Meggie assured her with a smile. "At least you know how to defend yourself."

"Yeah, I guess," said Lucy, offering her a weak smile back. "Onward?"

"Onward," King agree, and Grant lead the way out a back door.

They marched in a sort of group. Grant lead with his rifle, and then Bently followed with the sword. He didn't trust his knife skills, and he knew that if he swung a sword rather than a knife, he was more likely to hit something. Lucy and Meggie came next, sticking as close together as possible. King brought up the rear, checking periodically over his shoulder to make sure any raptors weren't sneaking up from behind.

Finally, they made it back to the main entrance hall. There weren't any raptors in sight, and none blocked the door, which had been unfortunately left open, so they couldn't know for certain. Grant lead them out the door with even more caution, pointing his gun all around in case of an attack. They were all out of the building now. Bently could see the jeep just a few meters up the road from them. They were almost there…

Gunshots, and then yells and screeches. Bently whipped around to find King shooting at three raptors that had sprung from the bushes down the road from them. King shot furiously, and one collapsed dead, but the other two kept coming.

"Go, go, go!" Grant yelled, and he and the two girls booked it for the jeep. Bently, however, ran to help King, Gryffindor's Sword poised over his head, ready for the kill.

One raptor had veered off and went for Bently while the other jumped up and slashed at King. One of it's large claws caught him, and there was a lot of tearing and blood, and then King was on the ground. Bently hacked at the one that had come after him and managed to get it on the ground before he went to go help King. Grant was now frantically searching for the keys while the girls watched, horrified, from the windows.

All Bently needed to see was blood and King on the ground to know that things weren't going good. The raptor was now zeroing in to make the kill, but Bently wasn't about to let that happen. "Eat this!" he yelled as he swung his sword at the raptor. The initial blow missed, but it distracted the raptor, who lunged at Bently. With no ideas on how to counter, Bently simply held up his sword and shut his eyes tight, preparing for the worst.

He was hit by a huge amount of force that knocking him over and nearly took the sword right out of his hands, but he held on tightly. He could feel a huge weight laying and slightly struggling on him, and warm, sticky blood oozing all over him. He opened his eyes to find a dead velociraptor on him, impaled on the sword. Then he remembered why he was here, and that King was injured, possibly really injured, and he started struggling. The raptor was really heavy, but he finally got out from under it and yanked the sword out of it.

King was lying on the ground, groaning in pain, but at least he was struggling to get to his feet. Bently rushed over to help him, but King waved him off. "It only got my arm, go!"

"No, _you_ come on," Bently said through gritted teeth, and he forced King to stand. He started dragging him along towards the jeep, where Grant had the trunk open. In the bushes, Bently could hear more raptors coming.

"Come on Bently!" screamed Meggie. They were just about to reach the jeep when two more raptors rushed out of the bushes, with three more just behind them. Bently turned around and took a firm stance with the sword so he could give King some extra time to crawl in. The first raptor reached him, and he hacked at it's neck, severing it for the most part. The second raptor, he caught in the mouth, and he thought it was going to rip the sword right out of his hands when he somehow managed to cut it's bottom jaw off. Then he scrambled into the jeep, and shut the door as Grant took off as fast as he could. For a while, the raptors ran after them, then they gave up and went back to their dead comrades.

It seemed like they drove for forever. They drove down dirt paths and paved roads, through tunnels of tropical trees and past grassy plains. They saw a few dinosaurs at a distance, but they were of the herbivore variety and didn't seem to notice the jeep hurtling along.

King's arm had been slashed pretty bad by the raptor's claws. The wound was long and deep, but it hadn't reached the bone quite, thankfully. Bently had bound up the wound as best he could for now, to at least stop the bleeding, and Lucy would heal him with her magic potion when they had gotten stopped and set up camp in a tree for the night.

Bently himself was very shaken. He kept trembling from leftover adrenaline, and the images of the fight kept running through his mind. He still couldn't believe that he had actually killed those raptors with a _sword_. King and Grant had only taken out about two with the guns, but Bently had killed around four or five with his sword. He considered himself both lucky and unlucky. Lucky because he had survived, but unlucky because his only set of cloths was dyed with dark raptor blood, and there wasn't any magic around for him to be able to get the blood out, if not make new cloths. The blood was making his cloths stiff, his skin sticky, and his smell like that of rotting flesh. It was very unpleasant. Plus, the smell of blood might attract God-knows-what sort of creatures.

They stopped several hours later when the sun was finally starting to go down. They parked on a paved road that ran along side a very tall, broken fence. "The T-rex broke through it when the power initially went out," said Grant as they got out, slightly stiff. "We just need to climb down the ropes, into the enclosure, and up a tree. There are plenty of nice, tall ones on this side."

And so they followed him out the car to the concrete edge. Looking down, Bently realized that they were on a cliff edge, and it was at least a two hundred foot drop to the bottom. He gulped, his eyes following the thick cables that ran down the edge.

"Alright, we'll go in groups. Lucy, Meggie, you'll go with me, and then Stephen and Bently will follow, go it?" said Grant. Everyone nodded, and he and the girls each grabbed a cable and started their decent down. When they had hit the bottom, Bently and King began their decent.

Bently had a hard time of it because all the dried blood on his hands and arms made moving his arms a bit problematic, and because of his missing finger he couldn't quite get a proper grip. He would second-guess himself when he couldn't feel his right pinky go around the rope, and it took him a moment or so to realize that he _had_ no pinky. It was a very depressing thought indeed.

And finally, after a few near-fatal slips, Bently reached the bottom. Grant, Lucy, Meggie and King had already washed themselves off in a pool of water near the wall, so he did the same, getting the blood off his skin and most of it out of his cloths. '_This'll do until I can get to some magic,_' he thought.

"Come on, this tree looks good," said Grant. Lucy was stumbling; she was exhausted.

"Just a little further, Lucy, then you can sleep," King assured her.

Grant lead them up and up and up a tall, tangled tree, which was a very slow process due to it being dark and Meggie and King not being good tree climbers, until they finally reached an area in the branches that was spacious enough for all of them to sleep relatively close together. Bently found a branch that looked rather comfortable, and was about to sit down and go to sleep when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Lucy was standing behind him. "Kneel and give me your sword, Bently," she instructed, and without question, Bently did as he was told. He was far too tired to question. "Now bow your head." He did so. Then he felt the blade of the sword on his shoulder. "For the exemplary bravery you have shown today, I, Lucy Pensive, Queen of Narnia, hereby knight you. Rise, Bently Raptor Slayer McQuinn, Knight of Narnia."

There was applause, and Bently rose, a smile on his face. Lucy handed him back his sword and hugged him. "Thank you Bently."

* * *

**So, when I was writing this chapter, I kept getting that feeling of someone watching me, so I typed most of it without looking at my screen, because I was instead focused on making sure any raptors weren't going to come bursting through my door.**

**Thanks for the reviews! I adore them ^^**

**~Icamane**


	13. Backs Against The Wall

Bently awoke the next morning to sunlight and odd noises. He saw Lucy giving him the "Be quiet!" hand signal, so he slowly sat up and turned around.

Coming towards them slowly was a pack of huge dinosaurs. Bently couldn't recognize them, but they looked like Brachiosaurus or something like that. He hoped they were plant-eaters, and that they weren't coming over to stomp on them.

Grant started climbing down the tree, and everyone else followed suit. The dinosaurs kept coming, and they kept climbing down. When they reached the bottom, the dinosaurs had reached them, and seemed to Bently to be looking for them.

"Brachiosaur," Grant whispered. "If we're quiet, we might get away unseen."

And so they began creeping away, one by one, following Grant. When he thought they were a good distance away, Bently checked over his shoulder. The Brachiosaur hadn't followed them.

They continued to move through the forest until around noon when they stopped to break. They hadn't seen any more dinosaurs today, and for that, Bently was thankful. He wrote in some food, and then he started to clean off Gryffindor's Sword. It was coated with dry, black, Velociraptor blood. He felt a bit ashamed that he hadn't done this sooner.

"So, how are we going to take out Carlisle?" Bently asked King, who had offered him a sandwich. Bently accepted it and started eating.

"I'm not quite sure," said King. "It depends on what the situation looks like when we find him. If there are a few dinosaurs around, and depending on which ones are there, we might be able to fight them and you could kill him with the sword. But if there are a lot, we'll have to resort to some sort of writing."

"How big of a writing project?" Bently asked.

"That'll be up to you. Although, since you learned from Lyra, you've gotten much better. I have confidence in you, and that's saying a lot," King added before getting back up. "Come on, time to move on."

"Dr. Grant, where do you think he is?" Meggie asked as they set off again.

"Well, it would make sense if he was near the center of the exhibit. It's far away from the roads, and there are less trees, so not only could he see people coming, but he could gather the most dinosaurs there."

"So that's where we're headed?"

"Yes."

They walked for the entire day. Bently was very sore afterwards, just about as sore as after his first day of riding while in Middle Earth. But they had finally found Carlisle.

They climbed another tree to sleep in and spy from while the last of the light faded. There were a lot of dinosaurs out there.

'_I'm going to have to write something,_' Bently thought as he gazed into the twilight (no pun intended). '_And whatever it is, it's going to have to be the best damn thing I've ever written._'

Bently wrote, and wrote, and wrote. He wrote until he couldn't see anymore, and then he was forced to try and sleep. But he couldn't. He had ideas running through his hand, and despite the darkness, he took note of them on another sheet of the notebook. They were running dangerously low on paper. '_We'll need to get more in whatever book we go to next,_' he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Bently awoke the next morning as the sun came up, nervous. He snatched up the notebook and began trying to decipher his notes from last night. They were nearly impossible to read, but he eventually began to work again on his piece that he hoped would kill Carlisle.

By the time everyone was up, Bently was almost finished. He just needed those last few sentences, and it would be perfect. He had read it over so many times he was confident now that when Meggie read it, everything would go back to normal and they could move on. But Grant had other plans.

"They've mostly cleared off," he said, pointing out across the plains. Indeed, there were far fewer dinosaurs, and they could see a person whom they assumed was Carlisle atop a large pile of logs, but it all made Bently very uncomfortable.

"What if it's a trap? What if he's found out we're here?"

"Well, there's no other way we're going to find out unless we check, is there?"

And before he could write a decent last few sentences, Bently was forced down the tree. He hung back behind everyone else as they carefully made their way to the edge of the forest to talk to Meggie.

"Look, I think this is a trap, and that it's going to go badly," he told her in a low voice as they reached the last few trees. "I'm not quite done with it, but these few paragraphs should end everything if I'm right." He showed her what he had been working on.

Meggie nodded slowly. "Alright, I'm sure I'd be able to read it."

"Great. Just thought I'd let you know."

They walked into the strong sunlight, and Bently immediately felt uneasy. He tucked away the notebook and set his hand on the hilt of Gryffindor's Sword. The rubies were cold under his sweaty hand.

"See? They've got—"

But a thunderous roar cut Grant off. Over the hill, they saw a huge dinosaur with very long teeth; Tyrannosaurus Rex. And running towards them was a pack of ten to fifteen Velociraptors.

"Shit," King swore, and they started running back towards the trees. Bently drew his sword, fully intending to fight, but when he saw that Carlisle was riding on top of the T-rex and that they were running after the raptors towards them, Bently ran too.

"Climb!" Grant yelled as he started scrambling up the nearest tree. Lucy joined him, and King and Meggie got into another one.

"Bently, hurry up!" Lucy screamed. "They're almost here!"

Bently shoved the sword back in its sheath and began climbing a tree just as the raptors reached the forest. They snapped at his heels as he climbed, jumping after him. He finally stopped on a branch well out of reach of the raptors. Panting, he drew out the notebook and pen, reading down the page and trying to clear his mind all at once.

"This is the end for you, Bently McQuinn!"

Carlisle's voice rang above the dinosaur sounds as Bently found those last sentences and penned them as fast as he could. Looking up, he saw the T-rex and vampire weren't all that far away.

"Meggie, it's finished!" Bently called out, looking around for her. She was in the tree next to his, but it was a long jump between the trees.

"Give it to me!" she cried out, trying to get as close to Bently's tree as she could without falling herself.

"I can't jump that far!" Bently yelled back, also shifting closer towards Meggie.

"Then throw it!"

Bently considered this, and decided it was indeed the only way. "Alright, here it comes!" he yelled as the enemy closed in. With all his strength, Bently flung the closed notebook like a Frisbee towards Meggie.

At first, it looked like she was going to catch it. Her arms were outstretched, and the notebook was almost in her fingertips, but then she fumbled and the notebook bounced off her hands and fell to the raptors bellow. Bently's heart dropped as a raptor jumped up from bellow and caught the notebook in its mouth, shredding it instantly.

"NO!" Bently yelled, furious with anything and everything.

"Bently, I'm sorry!" Meggie wailed, and he could see tears sliding down her face.

"Dammit Meggie, can't you catch a freaking—"

"Look out!" King yelled. Meggie jumped back just in time as the T-rex's mouth went for the branch Meggie had been standing on moments ago. As the T-rex bit down with a crunching noise and Meggie started screaming, Bently drew out the sword once more. This was their last hope, and Carlisle was in his direct line of fire.

"AHH!" Bently yelled as he held the sword over his head and took a running leap from the branch to the T-rex's head where Carlisle was standing. For a moment, Carlisle was looking pleased, but when he saw Bently flying through the air at him, his face fell. Bently brought the sword down on the top of the vampire's head with all his might, and Carlisle exploded into a shower of blue sparks.

Bently was about to whoop in joy when the T-rex abruptly stood up, free of Carlisle's power. Bently lost all his balance and fell, sliding down most of the dinosaur's back before falling off at about its back leg. He his the ground hard, and there was a sick cracking noise. He had defiantly broken something.

The T-rex lumbered off, luckily not stepping on Bently, and he heard whisking sounds as the raptors left too. But when he tried to stand, pain shot all up his back, and he couldn't feel his legs. He was paralyzed.

Panicked, Bently didn't know what to do. The first thing he thought of was the stones they had used in _Dark Materials_ to signal each other, but when he went to pat down his pockets, not only was it extremely painful to the point he almost cried, but there wasn't anything in them.

"Help!" he started shouting, and he heard rustling sounds and voices as everyone approached him.

"Bently, get up!" said King, and he was the first one Bently could see.

"I can't! I can't feel my legs!" Bently cried.

"Oh my goodness," he heard Meggie sob, and then Lucy was bending over him, opening up her little bottle of magic potion.

"Open up, Bently," she said, and he did so. She let one drop of the red potion fall into his mouth, and Bently felt a warm sensation spread rapidly through his body, focusing on the place where his back was broken. Presently, the pain started to ebb away, and he could move his legs again. He finally sat up, to his and everyone else's relief.

"I'm so, so sorry Bently," apologized Meggie, tears still in her eyes. "I thought I was going to catch it, but then I lost balance, and…"

Bently sighed heavily. He was mad, but there wasn't any point in it. "It's alright Meggie, we got the job done anyways. We'll just have to find a new one in whatever book we're going to next. Where _are _we going next, anyways? Hopefully no where with too much adventure, I'm done with that crap."

"_Phantom of the Opera,_" Meggie replied, wiping her cheeks and pulling the book out shakily. "But I'm not sure if we'll be able to get in, the text has changed."

King frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Meggie said, opening the book, "I'm pretty sure you all know the main character's name is Christine, right?"

"Right," said King. He looked like he didn't like where this might be going any more than Bently did.

"Well, everywhere where Christine's name _should_ be, it says Bella."

"Great," Bently groaned sarcastically. "We get to deal with the real whack-job next."

"This is really serious, Bently," Meggie pleaded. "If they're getting powerful enough to change the actual words, then it's only a matter of time before the entire book is messed up and people stop reading it."

"Then let's go," he said, standing shakily with a little help from Lucy. He felt like someone had put the Jelly Legs Jinx on him.

"Alright, but I'm not sure this will work…" Meggie said before clearing her throat and reading.

"You'd better go, Dr. Grant, unless you want to come with us," Lucy informed him. Grant tipped his hat to them and walked away.

"_He stood for ten minutes listening to the gas flaring in the silence of the empty room; lover though he was, he did not even think of stealing a ribbon that would have given him the perfume of the woman he loved. He went out, not knowing what he was doing nor where he was going. At a given moment in his wayward progress, an icy draft struck him in the face. He found himself at the bottom of a staircase, down which, behind him, a procession of workmen were carrying a sort of stretcher, covered with a white sheet._"

And once again, the forest and plain of _Jurassic Park_ faded away, and they were falling through darkness and into _The Phantom of the Opera._

* * *

**I find this to be a weird chapter for some reason.**

**Anyways, the text at the end is from _The Phantom of the Opera_.**

**Reviews are always appriciated, and thank you yellow14 for being my loyal follower. You're amazing :D**

**~Icamane**


	14. The Fairy of The Opera

The perfume was what struck Bently first as they entered the world. It smelled very, very strongly of smelly flowers, and Bently almost sneezed. He wondered how in hell people could stand smells like that.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a room that had hundreds of flowers crammed into it. The wallpaper looked like it was from the 1800's, and there was a huge dresser with lots of makeup on it.

"We're here," said Meggie, a bit unnecessarily.

"Yeah, but _where_ is here?"

"Her dressing room," Meggie replied simply. "Now we just need to find Bella."

They all crept out one by one into the hallway. Their ears were met by some truly awful singing, or at least, it sounded like someone was trying to sing, yet they were failing miserably.

"That's definitely not Christine singing," Meggie whispered.

"WHO SAID HER NAME?"

They all froze in the shadows as the singing stopped and what sounded like a teen girl started screaming, which wasn't that much different from the singing.

"I said, _who said Christine?_"

"No one, ma'am," said a trembling voice, a man this time.

"Don't lie to me! _I heard someone say her name!_"

"Please, we don't—AHH!"

There was the sound of swooshing fire and screaming. The four companions all looked at each other with shock on their faces. What in the world was happening out there?

"Now, if I hear _anyone_ say that name again, you know what's coming to you!" the girl screamed. "Let's try this song again!"

Bently gave Meggie a look that clearly said, "Don't do it again," and she nodded. Then they continued on.

They found some stairs and climbed all the way up onto the catwalk. The crossed it, careful to make sure no one looked up, and watched the scene below them.

It seemed to be a show rehearsal. There was a conductor and orchestra down in the pit, along with a few people, perhaps the opera owners, sitting in the audience seats. On the stage were three people Bently never thought he would see together, and never wanted to see together anyways.

The first was a man with flyaway black hair with a white streak near the front. He wore perhaps Victorian cloths, and was very, very pale. This man, Bently recognized as Sweeney Todd, although what he was doing in _Phantom of the Opera_ and not his own story confused him.

The second person was perhaps even more out-of-place than Sweeney. He recognized her as a girl from a movie his older sister had made him watch before she left for college. If Bently remembered right, her name was Shiloh, and she was from a very odd movie by the name of REPO! The Genetic Opera. How a character from a _movie_ got into here baffled Bently completely.

And finally, in the center of the stage and parading around like she was God, was Bella. This was obviously post-fairy vampire transformation Bella, because her skin sparkled brightly under the stage lights, brighter than any of the other fairy vampires they had met so far. And she was singing, or rather, screeching, an awful song that had no place being in an opera. At the moment, she was at the lyric,

"_Don't you ever leave me baby,_

_If you leave me you will kill me now!_"

Cheesy love song plus awful, drama queen singer makes for blood spurting from your ears, as Bently found out. Literally, his ears were bleeding, and he motioned for the others to get off the catwalk as fast as possible. Even so, one drop of blood fell off of Bently's neck, through the grate of the catwalk, and down onto the stage. As he hurried off down the stairs, he caught a glimpse of Bella. She was looking up at the catwalk, murder in her eyes.

"Alright, what's the plan, Bently?"

They were in a secluded corner of the opera house, in what Bently strongly suspected was a janitors closet. At least, he hoped it was.

"Plan?" he asked absent-mindedly.

"Well, yes," Lucy said. "You're the leader, after all."

"Well, I don't have one," Bently admitted. "I'm at a loss. Did you see the other two people on stage with Bella?"

"Yeah, I didn't recognize them. Who were they?" Meggie asked.

"They were two characters from other musicals. You know how _Phantom_ was turned into a musical? Well, the man was Sweeney Todd, and the other girl was Shiloh from REPO! The Genetic Opera."

"So… there were characters from other _books_ here as well?"

"Not just books. Shiloh is from a movie."

King sighed. "This book is really screwed up. Do we have any idea of if there are any characters left from this book?"

"No, I—"

They stopped talking. Footsteps sounded outside. They were angry footsteps, and they belonged to the same angry voice that had seemed to breathe fire. Bella was storming down the hallway, but she was crying.

"I ju-just can't get them to t-t-turn for me!" she sobbed to herself. "I d-don't know how my sweet Edward did it! He j-just smiled, a-and…" She cut off here, completely engulfed in tears, and her footsteps and sobs faded away. Once they couldn't hear anything else, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"She can't get people to turn for her?" Meggie asked, curious. "Does she mean like how Jacob turned everyone in Narnia into huge wolves?"

"And how Edward turned everyone at Hogwarts into these creepy zombie things," Bently added. "She must be trying to do the same to the characters in here."

"But they're obviously scared of her," King reasoned. "I'm not sure what she did to that man when Meggie said… _her_ name, but it sounded like something with fire."

"She probably burned him alive," said Bently bitterly. "That's what it sounded like to me, anyways."

"Alright, so if we can get some of the characters on our side—"

Everyone froze. The door had opened.

"There you are."

* * *

**...I like this chapter xD**

**I finished editing the whole thing last night, so updates will be coming much more frequently!**

**Reviews are loved!**

**~Icamane**


	15. At The Opera Tonight

In the light of the crack in the door was an aged woman. At first, Bently thought it was Professor McGonagall. But he soon realized the chances of that happening were very slim, and he found the woman slipping into the closet and shutting the door behind him. She lit the candle she had brought with her. It was now very cozy in the closet, a bit too cozy for comfort.

"Who are you?"

King was the first one to come out of the shock.

"I am Madame Giry. This Bella girl killed the girl I have been looking after for years, Mademoiselle Daae."

They all paused, waiting to hear Bella's screams about someone saying _her_ name, but they never came. Apparently, Bella was too stupid to know that Christine's last name was Daae.

"What in the world is wrong with this book?" Meggie asked.

Madame Giry sighed. "When Bella came here, she killed Mademoiselle Daae and took her place in the opera. By doing so, she started a cataclysm of events, and new characters have been showing up every day. Why, only today I saw Roxy from Chicago walking down the streets. Sweeney and Shiloh were some of the first, and more leads from musicals show up every day. If we don't stop her, soon all the shows will merge into one and disappear."

"What do you mean, disappear?" Meggie asked, looking worried.

"I think she means it'll be a sort of black hole effect," Bently said. "And what's happening tonight?"

"Tonight is the opera performance. Bella is forcing all the characters to attend to try and turn all of them. If she succeeds, the book will be overrun, and she'll get even more powerful. It will be very, very difficult to defeat her after that."

"Has she turned anyone?" King asked.

"One person. The Phantom. She someone turned him, and he will most certainly be on the look for you tonight. She knows you're here."

"How?" Lucy asked.

Madame Giry was about to answer, but Bently cut across her. "My blood. She made my ears bleed on the catwalk, and some of it fell on the stage. I guess she does have some vampire powers after all."

Madame Giry nodded. "Yes. So you'll have to be extra careful tonight, because the Phantom is very crafty and silent. He will not bestow you with any mercy."

"And if we kill her… if she leaves the book, everything will go back to normal?" Bently asked. He had to be sure.

Madame Giry nodded once more. "That is the hope. Now, I must leave."

"Would you be able to send Shiloh and Sweeney here? We need to let them know what's happening, they could be of use."

"I shall try," Madame Giry said, and left silently.

Bently sighed. This was _not_ going to be easy. He almost, _almost_ wished he was back to fighting raptors with his sword.

"Have a plan of attack now, Bently?" Lucy asked. Her eyes were shining with anticipation.

Bently ran a hand through his brown-red hair. "Yeah, I guess. Meggie, Lucy, I want you two in the audience. King, you and I are going to go up on the catwalks again. I'm hoping we can strike from above."

There were more footsteps in the hallways, and the door opened again, making everyone tense up. But it was only Shiloh and Sweeney.

"Madame Giry said you were here," said Shiloh, sitting down. "Please tell me you're here to save us. I hate it here."

"Yeah, we are. But we're going to need your help," Bently explained. "You two are going to be on stage, right?"

They both nodded. Sweeney's face was so pale it seemed to glow in what little light they had. "Alright, good. Shiloh, I'm going to need you to be a distractant. King and I are going to be up in the catwalks, and if something goes wrong up there and you think Bella's noticed us, then distract her until we can move. Sweeney, since you're a, um, serial killer, we might need your help with the Phantom. He's apparently the only one who's been turned, and we could need you to help us keep him from ruining the plan. I'm not saying to kill him, but… we might need help fighting him, okay?" Sweeney nodded, silent. Bently thought he was much creepier up close.

"So… to the opera tonight?"

"To the opera tonight," everyone echoed, and Sweeney and Shiloh left. Bently smiled tensely. He was getting quite a bit better at this leader stuff.

King and Bently hid on either side of the stage in the wings. They waited until the show had started, and began climbing their respective ladders up to the catwalk. King had figured that they should go up on either sides, so if the Phantom was already up there, at least one of them might surprise him.

But they met in the middle of the walk, and there was no Phantom. They looked down and watched the show.

They had a full house. This made Bently uncomfortable. What if something went wrong? He seemed to remember a falling chandelier in _Phantom_. What if that happened again, or something worse? He wasn't sure what he would do if he had a lot of casualties on his hands.

He found Lucy and Meggie in the audience. They had sat separate from each other, both relatively close to the stage, but not close enough that Bella would be able to pick out their faces unless she was really looking hard, and there was enough light. Not that Bella would recognize their faces, but she might be able to tell them apart from everyone else in the book. They had tried to dress Lucy and Meggie in French dresses, but they still stuck out because they were rather young. Bently just hoped their meager disguises would be enough.

On stage was Bella, Sweeney, and Shiloh. Bella was singing her awful, screeching rendition of a cheesy love song. Bently plugged his ears, not wishing for them to bleed again. He stood there, leaning against the railing with his ears plugged, not able to hear a thing. He just stared at Bella as she waltzed across the stage in an elaborate gown, looking amusingly like a peacock. A male one, that is.

But Bently felt the railing shake, and that's when he snapped out of it and turned. He heard a chocking noise, and saw that the Phantom had dropped out of no where and was now trying to strangle King.

"Oh no you don't," Bently muttered, and he pulled out his elvish knife and lunged. The catwalk swung, and Bently tried to be as careful, quite, and powerful as possible. He stabbed at the Phantom's arm, who let out a cry of pain.

There was a gasp from the audience when they heard this. Bella thought it was about her, so she didn't pay attention, but she _did _pay attention when Bently had pried the Phantom from King and pushed him off the catwalk to fall on the stage bellow. There was complete silence as everyone, Bently, King, and Bella included, stared at the Phantom. Then Bella turned her face towards the ceiling, fury, murder, and fire, real fire, in her eyes.

"You," she seethed, and everyone could hear it.

'_Oh shit,_' Bently thought. Oh shit indeed.

"YOU!" Bella screamed, and from her mouth, she unleashed an inferno of fire from her mouth.

"Oh _shit!_" Bently and King swore at the same time and rolled away in opposite directions in order to avoid the flames. Suddenly Bently's back got hot, but he didn't catch fire. The catwalk, however, started melting.

Meanwhile down on stage, the Phantom was rising. One of the apparent few benefits of being turned into a fairy vampire follower was that you couldn't die as long as your fairy leader was still in your world, and so he got right back up. But that's when Sweeney sprung into action, swinging his silver razor high, and he and the Phantom were caught in a fight.

Lucy and Meggie had risen from their seats just like everyone else in the house. But unlike everyone else, they weren't screaming and running for the exits. Instead, they were more concerned with what was going on with the column of fire that was erupting from Bella's mouth; she was setting the Opera house on fire.

Just then, the middle of the catwalk gave out, and broke in two. King and Bently clung desperately to the bars, trying to prevent a serious fall.

"YOU KILLED MY EDWARD!"

Bella had found Bently again, and she aimed a new stream of fire at him. He let go of the railing out of instinct, and fell to the stage, and although it wasn't nearly as long of a drop as what the Phantom had experienced, it still hurt a lot.

"YOU RUINED MY LIFE!"

Bella was now almost upon him. He had dropped his knife, and he was scrambling to find the sword…

"BENTLY, MOVE!"

Meggie had yelled it just in time, and Bella looked up just as she was shooting the fire. Most of it missed Bently and went over him, making his cloak smoke. But about a third of it hit Meggie, and she fell screaming into the seats. Bently had no time to check whether she was alright or not, because Bella was just a few feet away from him, and he had a firm grip on Gryffindor's Sword.

He went to run at Bella, stood, and pulled the sword all at the same time. Bella saw him, and fear shown in her brown eyes. She blew fire down at the stage, engulfing it in flames, and shooting herself towards the roof. In the ceiling where the chandelier should have been was a swirling black portal.

"NO!" Bently screamed helplessly as he tried to avoid the flames.

"Next time, you're dead," were the last words Bella spoke before she disappeared into the portal and it winked out of existence.

Bently dropped to his knees, wanting nothing more than to weep in frustration. But he couldn't.

"Come on Bently, we've got to get—what?"

King stopped. He was about to say, "we've got to get this fire put out," but as soon as he was about to say it, the fire extinguished itself, everything that was burned repaired itself, and the catwalk was whole again.

The Phantom was lying on the stage in a daze. He seemed to be back to normal, but he had a gash on both his arm and his face, one from Bently and one from Sweeney. Sweeney and Shiloh were no where to be found, and Christine Daae was walking out onto the stage. Madame Giry rushed up to her from the right wing.

"Christine, are you alright?"

"Yes, I just… I don't remember anything… was I asleep?" Christine asked in a dazed voice.

Bently sheathed the sword, found his knife, and put that back too. He also checked his wand, relieved to find it unbroken. With all the falling he had been doing lately, he wouldn't have been surprised if it had snapped in half.

"How is she?" King asked as he and Bently walked over to the girls. Lucy had propped Meggie up in a seat, and Meggie was groaning. She had several white patches on her arms, and one small one on her face.

"She'll be fine, she just got burned pretty bad," Lucy said, putting away her magic potion. "You are all really lucky Peter let me come with you. You'd all be dead by now if it wasn't for this healing potion."

"You're right. Thank you, Lucy," said Bently, smiling at her.

They all sat there together, resting for a moment. "What happened to Bella?" Meggie finally asked.

"She… escaped," Bently said bitterly. "She shot herself up and out of here."

"Oh."

Bently shook his head. "But let's not worry about it. How many more books do we have left?"

"Well, four, counting Meyer. _Maximum Ride, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Alice in Wonderland,_ and Oz."

"Oz?"

"It's a combination of _The Wizard of Oz_ and _Wicked_," King explained.

"That's where Meyer is," added Meggie.

"Great, another musical," Bently grumbled. "Well, how about we hit up _Maximum Ride_ next? It's in a normal world, and in my time, too. We can hopefully get another notebook there."

"Oh, speaking of notebooks," said Meggie, brightening up. "I stole this from the dressing room. I know it's not much, but… here." She handed him a small piece of stationary. It smelled like flowers, and had a floral print on it, but it was paper.

"Thanks Meggie," said Bently, carefully folding the paper and setting it in his cloak pocket with the pen. "To _Maximum Ride_?"

"Absolutely," she said, pulling the book out of her bag. "This one doesn't look quite as bad so far, so maybe we won't have too much trouble."

"Knock on wood," said King, and he knocked on the stage. Meggie began to read.

"_She nodded and started stacking clean plates. I fantasized about actually being friends with Ella and her mom long after I left here and went home. I could come back and visit sometimes… Yeah, and we could have picnics, exchange Christmas cards… I'm so sure, I was totally losing my grip on reality. I had to get out of here._"

With those short, few sentences, the opera house faded. The last thing Bently thought about was how he was getting used to this portal jumping stuff.

* * *

**I rather enjoy the "oh shit" moment xD**


	16. Normality Is Weird

Bently opened his eyes to trees.

"Not _another_ forest," he groaned. He had had enough of freaking forests. Everything bad seemed to happen in them.

"Not for long," said Meggie, pointing a head of her. The trees ended not to far away, and there was a little house with a slightly broken fence around it.

"I hope that's where we need to be," Lucy said as they started for the house. "I'm really tired."

"Martinez and Jeb told me they would be at the house," King said. "So I can only assume they meant this house."

They all stumbled up to the front door. Right as they reached it, it swung open. Everyone who had them went for their weapons, but they stopped when Bently recognized the owner and relaxed. It was the Spanish woman how had been in the Great Hall, and behind her was the man with the mustache who had been with her.

"Dr. Martinez, nice to see you haven't been taken over," said King.

"Hello Stephen, Bently. Please, come in, you look dead on your feet," she invited, smiling kindly. They all stumbled gratefully inside.

The house was small, but Bently had to admit it was charming. Dr. Martinez shuffled around, trying to find places for everyone to rest. "Girls, you can go in Ella's room, it's just down there, she's at school. Stephen, take my bed, and Bently, here's some blankets if you want the couch or the spare bed..."

"I'll take the couch, thanks," said Bently, accepting the blankets and stepping towards the plush couch. He took of his cloak and weapons, laying them carefully on the floor next to the couch so he could snatch them up at a moments notice.

"Sure beats sleeping in a tree," he commented before closing his eyes. Despite it being noon, he fell asleep in moments.

Bently awoke when Lucy shook him. "Dinner's ready, Bently," she said gently before leaving. Bently yawned and stretched, a slight kink in his neck. It had only been a few hours sleep, but it had been of deep sleep, and Bently felt like once he was fully awake, he might be able to go for another night. Or day. Or several, if need be.

He walked in the kitchen to see everyone just starting to fill their plates with delicious smelling food. Seated at the table were Dr. Martinez, the mustached man, and a girl, who looked a little younger than Meggie and Lucy.

"So, what's going on in this book?" King asked, forking up a load of chicken. Bently grabbed his own food and stood next to King while Lucy and Meggie took the final seats at the small table.

"Rosalie has taken over the flock and the Erasers," said the man. "They're in the School, and she's locked Max away somewhere. If you could break Max out, she would help you defeat Rosalie."

"Where is this… School?" Bently asked. He really didn't want to go back to school. "And _what _is it?"

"The School is the science lab where I used to work," said the man. It irked Bently that he still didn't know his name. "And it's also where Max and the flock were made. You see, the School was experimenting on crossing human DNA with other animals, and when we crossed humans with birds, we got the flock. It's a wonder Rosalie got the flock to follow her, because they hate it there."

He stood, finished with his dinner. "Tomorrow, we'll set off for it. But you should all rest some more, I've been told you haven't had rest in almost two days."

Bently slept very soundly that night. The next morning, he awoke refreshed, and actually took a shower. It wasn't until he climbed in did he realize how dirty and nasty he was, and it took him a good fifteen minutes just to scrub all the grime and dried blood of various species off himself. It wouldn't last for very long, but he might as well be clean while he could.

He found the others in the kitchen. Dr. Martinez handed him a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast. "Stephen said your notebook got eaten by dinosaurs, so I went and found you two new ones. They're by your things." She said this like dinosaurs eating notebooks was the most ordinary thing in the world.

"Thank you," Bently said between large bites of breakfast.

"Jeb will be back soon, he just wanted to make sure there was plenty of gas in the van," she said.

"We're going in a van?" Meggie said, looking relieved to not have to walk for this one.

"What's a van?" Lucy asked, confused.

"It's a really big automobile that can carry lots of people," Meggie explained. "Are we really driving?"

"Yes. Jeb thinks they won't suspect it, and it's easier to get to the School in a vehicle, anyways."

Jeb, the mustache man, returned just as everyone was finishing packing up. "Alright, load up and move out," he instructed, and they did. They looked a comical sight, throwing swords and cloaks into the back of a van. Jeb was driving with King in the passenger seat, and Meggie sat between Lucy and Bently. Dr. Martinez set a bag of groceries into the back as well.

"For the road," she said. "And please, be careful."

"We will," Bently assured her, while hiding his gimp hand from her sight. He didn't think she would find losing a finger the definition of "careful."

And then they were off. Bently had to admit, this was a lot better than walking to the School. He didn't even know where they were, or where this School was, but it must have been far from Dr. Martinez's house.

"Do we have a plan yet?" Lucy asked. Plan, plan, plan… did he have a plan?

"I dunno," Bently answered vaguely. "I guess it'll depend on the situation when we get there. But I know we'll have to find and free Max so he—"

"Max is a she," Jeb corrected from the front seat.

"Right, so she can help us." Max was a weird name for a girl.

"How far is it to the School?" Meggie asked.

"Well, we're in Arizona right now, and the School is in Death Valley. So probably all day, but that's good, because we'll have the cover of darkness to attack from."

They all settled in after that, each keeping to his or her own thoughts. Jeb turned on the radio to some news station. To be riding in a van, listening to American news, driving through Arizona all the while still in a _book_ felt very surreal to Bently. He had been in fantasy books for so long that this felt abnormal. Once or twice, he caught himself wondering what his mom was going to make for dinner tonight.

Oh no, mom.

"King, do people in our world notice when we're gone?" Bently asked, panic-stricken.

"They didn't really when I left. In fact, when I came back, I came back right to the moment before I met the character who took me into the books."

So there was hope yet. His detention seemed like such a frivolous thing compared to everything that had happened so far, and Bently snorted. If only Mrs. Grist could see him now, Bently McQuinn, the Raptor Slayer.

They drove all day like Jeb said they would, and then a little into the night. The bag of snacks was completely gone, and they had only stopped for bathroom breaks. Bently's legs felt like rubber when they finally pulled up outside a tall fence with barbed wire around the edges.

"This is it," said Jeb, turning off the engine. They all piled out, put their cloaks back on, and re-strapped their weapons to themselves.

"How are we getting in?" Meggie asked.

"Like this," Bently replied, pulling his elvish knife out. He began cutting through the fence, which luckily wasn't electrified, and cut rather easily. In moments, there was a hole large enough for them all to walk through comfortably.

"Where do you think Max is, Jeb?" Bently asked in a whisper as they started towards a large complex of buildings that must have been the School.

"I have no idea. I hope they didn't lock her in a dog crate, that—"

Snarls filled the air. Bently quickly sheathed his knife and drew the sword, reminded instantly of the wolves in Narnia. He saw Lucy and King draw their knives as well out of the corner of his eye, and they all formed a sort of circle around Meggie, who for some reason, still didn't have a weapon. Bently pulled out his knife again and handed it to her behind his back. "Take it, it's about time you had a weapon," he muttered. She whispered her thanks, and they waited in the cold desert night, anxious and scared, but brave.

They attacked out of no where. Bently wasn't even sure what they were, because they had wolf features, but the walked like people and talked like humans, too. It felt a little wrong, swinging his sword at things that were human-like and not fairy vampires, but he had no choice. It was him or them.

The things howled loudly when Bently slashed them open. Their blood was thick and black, like the Velociraptors. "Shut up, shut _up!_" Bently growled as he killed another one. They were so freaking loud, they were going to get caught.

"Jeb, what are _you_ doing here?"

Everything stopped. Bently was panting heavily as he looked at the speaker. It was a small girl of about six or seven with blonde curls and white bird wings. _Bird wings._

"Angel, darling, what—"

"You brought them here to kill Max, didn't you?" she asked, her eyes furious but the rest of her face in composure.

"No, the real Max has been captured—"

"Go. Inside. All of you."

A dark figure landed next to Angel. This was a boy with black hair, cloths, and wings. "And drop all your weapons right here."

Four more figures landed around them, more people with wings. Except for one, and that was a girl with blonde hair. It was Rosalie.

"Excellent job, Angel and Fang. I knew they were coming to kill me," she said with a sneer as they all dropped their weapons. The sword fell to the ground with an ominous clang, and Bently gritted his teeth. _Now _how was he supposed to kill her?

They were ushered into the School, leaving the dead wolf things behind them on the ground. They walked through many rooms, most with complex computers and other scientific machines that Bently didn't understand nor want to. Finally, they were shown into a room with dozens of dog crates in various sizes. They gave Bently the creeps.

"Is that you, Fang?" called out a hard female voice. "Let me out of here! She's an imposter! Nudge, Iggy? Angel, you know that _I_ am the real me!"

"Shut up, imposter," snapped Rosalie as she passed by the crate where the noise was coming from. Inside was another girl with tawny wings, looking about Bently's age, and had short, dirty blonde hair. "Fang, show our gusts their quarters for the night."

They all were shoved into their own personal dog crates. Bently's was between the real Max's and King's. Bently was very cramped, but when the flock and Rosalie had left, he grinned a very wicked grin. From inside his cloak he pulled out the pen and one of the notebooks Dr. Martinez had gotten for him. They still had a chance.

"You're Max, right?" he asked the girl in the crate next to him. She looked at him with fierce brown eyes.

"Yeah, and you?"

"Bently McQuinn."

"The writer?"

"Yeup."

"So what's the plan?"

'_I wish people would stop asking that,_' Bently thought in irritation. "Well, we're going to break you out. And then somehow, we're going to kill Rosalie. Although, I don't know how that'll happen, since Gryffindor's Sword is lying in the sand outside."

"Well, your plan is going wonderfully so far," Max said cynically.

"Look, I have my notebook with me, I'll think of something," Bently retorted. But there was hardly any light to see by, and since he didn't want a repeat of the Jurassic Park incident, Bently tucked the notebook and pen away and fell asleep, using his cloak for a blanket and the hood for a pillow.

They were in the crates for several days. Bently didn't bother to count them. Time seemed irrelevant, seeing as how each book seemed to have its own time zone. On the last day they were in the crates, Rosalie came in while they were receiving their meager meals.

"I've finally figured out what to do with you all," she announced, looking proud of herself and swishing her sheet of blonde curls over her shoulder.

"Oh? Have you now?" King asked bitterly.

"Shut up, old man," Rosalie hissed. "You, McQuinn. You're going to be first. You're all going to fight my minions, and you, McQuinn, are fighting Fang. Tomorrow morning."

"NO!" Max shouted. "You can't—"

"I can do what ever I want, Miss Mutant Freak," Rosalie smirked, and then left.

Max smashed her fist into the bottom of her crate. "She can't _do_ this!"

"Unfortunately, she can," said Bently. "But now we know what we're up against. Is being up against Fang… bad?" If he remembered right, Fang was the one in all black.

"Are you kidding me?" Max said, laughing shakily. "He's the best fighter we've got besides me. You don't stand a chance against him."

"Great," said Bently flatly. He pulled out the notebook and stared at the blank first page for what seemed like hours. He needed to make himself stronger, but the words wouldn't come. He had hit writer's block.

"King?"

"Hmm?"

"How do you beat writer's block?"

"What are you trying to write?"

"Well, if I'm supposed to fight this Fang guy tomorrow, I need to be stronger. But I can't think of anything to write."

He saw King frowning through the holes in his crate. "Bently, changing your own body is dangerous, I don't—"

"The effects should go away when we leave this book, right?"

"Theoretically. How's that theory working out on your hand?"

Bently looked down. He was still missing that pinky and part of his hand. It didn't bother him anymore since he had finally gotten used to it not being there, but every now and then, he ran his other hand over the scar to make sure it had really happened.

"I have to try."

King sighed. "Alright, fine. Sleep, dream. Think about other things for a while. I'll wake you up as early as I can, and you can write then. Your dreams can usually give you pretty good ideas."

Bently didn't much like this idea of putting it off until the last second, but it would have to do. "Fine. I'll see you in the morning, then."

"Indeed you will."

* * *

**Wootness for Max Ride xD**


	17. Wings

Bently woke up on his own in the dark. He had no idea what time it was; of all the days he didn't wear his watch to school, it just _had_ to be the day Pansy came to get him to go fight a brigade of fairy vampires.

His thoughts stopped right there. He hadn't thought about Pansy in a while, but now he felt guilty for not doing so. He had no idea if she was okay, or even where she was. Now that he thought about it, Jacob had taken her, and probably to Meyer, who was in Oz. What would Meyer do to her? Turn her and use her against him? Destroy her? Or, did he dare think it… send her to the Blank World? Either way, he had to get her back. They would need her to fight Meyer.

In the artificial glow of the machines and the dimming darkness, Bently pulled out the notebook and pen and sat in silence, breathing deeply. He cleared his mind, focusing on what he wanted to write. And then he began.

He worked until the sun was almost all the way up. He tore the page out when he was finished and folded it into a rod that would fit through the holes in the crates.

"Pst, King," Bently whispered, catching his mentor's attention. "Pass this down to Meggie. Tell her she needs to read it when we get to wherever I'm going to fight Fang."

King caught the paper by the tips of his fingers; it was just long enough to pass between the crates. King turned to pass it to Meggie. Bently prayed she wouldn't drop this paper. He didn't know if he would be able to fight his way out of this one if he didn't have writing to help him.

"I got it, Bently!" Meggie whispered excitedly.

"Good," Bently whispered back. "You know when to read it, right?

"Yeup!"

"Awesome, then hide it and wait," Bently said just as the lab door opened.

"Rise and shine, kiddies," said Rosalie's song-like voice. Bently had to admit she sounded a lot more like Bella. But what he wasn't sure about was who was more of a psychopath. "It's show time!"

They were let out of their crates and forced into a single-file line. They were lead down many twisting hallways and out into a very open room. Instead of concrete for a floor, this floor was dirt, and the room was made up to imitate terrain. The roof overhead was a tall dome made of a thick glass that seemed to concentrate the sunlight. It was in this sort of faux-outdoor arena that the flock was waiting for them. Each of the flock took one of Bently's companions (and Max) and they all made a sort of loose circle around Bently and Fang.

"You won't be able to kill anyone else after this, McQuinn," Fang growled as they started circling each other. "Especially not Max."

"Dude, she's _not Max!_" Bently cried out. "_She's_ the real one!" he said, pointing to the real Max.

"Liar, that's the vampire. We captured her ages ago, no thanks to you."

"Meggie, now would be a really good time!" Bently said in somewhat panic as Fang unfolded his black wings. They were a lot bigger close up.

"_Bently didn't know what was wrong with him. He was boiling from the inside; he could feel his blood bubbling. It reminded him of a how taking Polyjuice Potion was described, but—_"

"NO! _Stop her!_" Rosalie screeched. But Meggie turned herself into a corner and kept reading.

"—_it was on his insides, not outsides. His back and shoulders felt like lava, and then it spread all throughout his body. Bently fell to his knees in agony. It was almost too much._"

Bently began to feel the bubbling. It was painful, but he was thrilled. '_It's working!_' he thought with excitement. He heard struggling noises, but then Meggie continued.

"_Finally, his shoulders seemed to explode, and something began growing out of them. That something, or rather, somethings, were twelve foot long bird wings, powerful enough to send him into the sky with a single beat. Bently felt everything in him growing stronger and stronger until the lava in his blood ebbed away into his heart, making him feel like he could throw a car or fight a pack of lions. He faced his opponent, ready for the challenge._"

Bently saw Angel rip the piece of paper from Meggie's hands just before he fell to the ground, but that didn't matter; she had finished reading. Just like how he had written, his blood and everything else inside him felt like molten lava. Then his shoulders did indeed explode and his wings began to grow. It was like someone had mixed Skele-Grow and crack and he was growing bones at the speed of light. The wings feathered themselves, and power coursed through him. He stood, smirking, and faced Fang, who hadn't joined in with restraining Meggie.

"Now, who's going down?" Bently asked, and they charged each other.

Fang obviously had an advantage with the wings, because he could use them smoothly and elegantly. Bently was clunky, but he had power on his side. They wrestled on the ground, their wings being tweaked and flapped at each other. They were getting covered in dirt.

Then Fang got away and lept into the air, hovering with his wings. Bently tried to join him, but Fang rammed him back down to the ground. Bently hit hard, and he started to feel his power waning. He had never set a time limit, and the story must have created its own, which was inconveniently short. He jumped up and was going to Fang's ankle. He would have missed when Fang swerved, but he beat his wings a little and caught it. Bently dragged Fang to the ground with all his power. Fang hit just as hard as Bently had, and Bently went for the first weapon he could find; a handy, semi-large rock. As Fang came up to hit Bently, Bently swung the rock and hit Fang in the head. His eyes rolled and he dropped like, well, like a rock. There was no blood, and Bently saw that he was still breathing, so he felt alright about that.

"NO!" Rosalie screamed. She sounded eerily like Bella. "Everyone, attack him!"

"Wait!" Max yelled out, and everyone in the flock stopped and looked at her. "Look at me! You all _know _me! She's the one who's the imposter! Would I _really_ have sent Fang to fight? I would have done it myself!"

There was a look of dawning on Angel and the black girl's faces. "That's… right…"

"No! She's the imposter!" Rosalie screamed.

"And this morning… she made breakfast for all of us… that we could eat…" said the younger boy. Bently smirked. Rosalie's hold on them was breaking.

"No, that, that—"

"You're not the real Max," said the taller boy fiercely. "She is." He pointed vaguely in the direction of the real Max.

The flock all gathered around Max, who walked up to Bently. She set her hand on his shoulder, which hurt because his wings were now going away, making a pile of feathers around him. "I think we got this one, Bently. You try and bring Fang around."

"Be my guest," said Bently, kneeling on the ground. "But you might need this." He took the Horcrux-Seeking Medallion from around his neck and handed it to Max, who slung it over her own. "It weakens them when you get close."

"No, NO!" Rosalie cried out, but the flock was already upon her.

Pansy's dull grey eyes flickered open. She was lying face-down in grey. Slowly, she sat up, looking around her. All she could see were shades of grey. There was no dimension, no shape, and yet, there was, because the grey went on for all eternity in all directions.

She got up and started walking. She had no idea where she was, or how she had gotten there. All she knew was that she needed to find someone to ask what was going on.

She walked and walked for an unknown amount of time. Time didn't exist here, and she never got tired in the least bit.

Without warning, she found herself next to someone. This someone was dressed all in black, and had a funny black mask on which made odd breathing sounds.

"Hello," Pansy said.

The stranger looked down at her and said a low, somewhat robotic voice, "Hello. Did you just get here?"

"Yes. Where is here?"

"No one knows," he replied. "And I've asked many people. But people here come and go in an instant; you never see it happen."

"Wow."

There was silence for a moment, but it wasn't awkward. There didn't seem to be any such thing as awkward in this world. "What's your name?" Pansy asked.

"Anakin Skywalker, although like this, I was known as Darth Vader," Darth said, gesturing to his black suit and mask. "And yourself?"

"I'm Pansy Parkinson." She said this plainly, without a trace of snobbiness that had been in her voice before. "I'm from the _Harry Potter _books."

"_Star Wars_ movies."

They sat down next to each other, staring off at the grey horizon, or more of what could have been considered the horizon.

"How long have you been here?"

"A very long time it seems, but then again, not long at all."

"I feel the same way."

* * *

**I can't even comment on my own ridiculousness. Wow.**


	18. Up The Mountain

Rosalie had been defeated. Fang was awake again, and everyone was shaking hands. The flock had indeed taken care of Rosalie, and she was now a pile of golden dust.

"Thank you, Bently McQuinn," said Max, hanging the Horcrux-Seeking Medallion back around Bently's neck. "We owe you."

"No, I think we're about even," he reasoned with a smile. "I broke you out and broke her hold, and you guys took care of the rest."

"Can we get our weapons back?" Lucy asked.

"Of course."

They went back to the lab and got Jeb out, who had been left in the crate. Then they all marched right out of the School and back to the dead wolf people. Their weapons were still there, untouched.

"Ugh, stupid Erasers smell worse when they're dead," said the youngest boy, pulling his shirt over his nose. Everyone else followed suit as Bently and the others picked up their weapons.

Meggie went to hand Bently back his knife, but he shook his head. "Why don't you just keep it, you must be sick of not having a weapon."

"But I don't want one, I hate hurting people."

"So do I, but they're handy," said Lucy. Bently took off the belt which had the knife's sheath and gave it to Meggie.

"You never know when you'll need it."

"But what about you?"

"I've got Gryffindor's freaking Sword. I think I can make due with just that," Bently replied, chuckling. Then he walked over to King, showing him his back. There was no trace that Bently had ever sprouted wings.

"See? All fine."

"It was still very dangerous," King warned. "Next time, you might not be so lucky."

"Yeah, yeah. Meggie, what's next?"

"_A Series of Unfortunate Events,_" she replied, pulling the book out.

"Excellent, let's get to it. You lot might want to get away, unless you want to come with us."

"No thanks, we've got our own problems to sort out," said Max, and she lead the flock and Jeb away from them. "Thanks again."

"No problem!" Bently shouted back, and Meggie started to read.

"_Like a dead poet, this book can be said to be on the road less traveled, because it begins with the three Baudelaire children on a path leading through the Mortmain Mountains, which is not a popular destination for travelers, and it ends in the churning waters of the Stricken Streams, which few travelers even go near._"

Once again, the desert was fading, and they were moving through blackness. When the world came back to being, they found themselves at the base of a very tall, very intimidating icy mountain. And it was snowing.

"Of all the terrible luck, we just _have_ to go into _another_ book where it snows!" Bently growled.

"It's not _my_ fault, I don't get to choose which books we go into!" Meggie snapped back.

"Stop it, both of you," Lucy said, her voice stressed. "We can't afford to be fighting. Let's just find whoever's in here and get this over with."

Lucy was right of course, and they set off. The only way they could go was up the mountain, because all around them was white.

"That's not a snowstorm," King explained as he rushed them up the mountain's winding gravel path. "It's part of the Blank World. This book has been destroyed so much that the Blank World is eating it. It's like my story The Landgalleres."

"What happens in that?" everyone else asked.

"These crazy rock things with teeth eat up time," King said bluntly. "And that's what's going to happen to us if we don't kick out the vampire."

They walked and walked in the snow, which steadily got worse.

"What's that noise?" Lucy asked, stopping suddenly.

"I don't—"

"Hello?" the wind seemed to whisper. And out of the storm ahead of them came three people who all looked very, very much alike.

"Are you the heroes?" the girl asked as they came closer to the group.

"Yes," Bently shouted over the wind.

"Good, let's get up to the cave where we can talk," said one of the boys, and the three began leading the heroes up the slope.

They eventually reached a small cave in the mountainside and they slipped in.

"We're the Quagmire Triplets; Duncan, Isadora, and Quigley," said Isadora, the girl, and pointed to her brothers in turn. Bently didn't know how in the world he was going to tell Duncan and Quigley apart.

"Nice to meet you. This is Meggie, Lucy, Stephen King, and I'm Bently McQuinn."

"We didn't think you were coming," said Duncan a bit despairingly. "Jasper has almost destroyed everything."

"He's holding Violet, Klaus, and Sunny in the crater where the V.F.D. was," said Quigley. "If we want to fix everything, we're going to have to defeat him before he gets rid of them and us. We're the only reason the world is still here."

"And the Blank World eats up a little more every day," added Isadora. "And lately, it's been eating faster."

"So then let's get going," said Bently. It was snowing a bit fiercer outside. "We need to start now before it really starts blizzarding."

"It's always snowing, and blizzarding," said Isadora. "But yes, let's get going."

Bently knew there was, unfortunately, no magic here, so all he could do was tighten his cloths around him, make sure his cloak was secure, and he and Isadora lead the group out into the blizzard and up the mountain.

* * *

**Wow, this chapter is short xD**


	19. Attack! Of The Blank World

It was very slow going up the mountain. Bently seemed to be completely sapped of energy, even worse than everyone else. '_It must be a bit of whiplash from growing myself wings,_' he thought. He wanted nothing more than to lie down in the snow and sleep, even if that meant he would probably freeze to death. But that sounded nice right now.

'_No! I can't think like that!_' Bently reprimanded himself. '_Gotta keep going!_'

But that got harder and harder to do. His face, hands, and feet were numb. The blizzard seemed to be getting worse. Bently glanced behind him. The others were just as cold, and beyond them, Bently couldn't see anything but white after a few meters of road. Either the blizzard was getting much bigger, or the Blank World was creeping up after them. Bently assumed the latter.

"It's gaining on us, we gotta hurry!" he yelled over his shoulder.

As they struggled higher and higher, Bently was suddenly reminded of his dæmon, Harlima. He closed his eyes and tried to focus within himself.

'_Harlima,_' he called out. '_If you can hear me, please. I need help. Help keep me warm, I need to reach the top alright. And if there's anything you can do to help the others, that would be awesome as well._'

'_Long time, no talk, Bently,_' came Harlima's deep voice from inside his head. '_I'll keep you warm and let the others know._'

'_Thank you,_' Bently replied, extremely grateful for Harlima and pleasantly surprised to hear her voice. As they walked higher and higher, the storm got worse and worse, and the Blank World drew closer and closer, but Bently steadily got warmer. He also grew more hopeful and powerful, like a tiger. A large, white tiger, to be exact.

"Come on, we're almost there!" cried out Duncan-or maybe Quigley, Bently couldn't tell-and they all surged forward.

Everyone seemed to be feeling better now, and they traveled faster. Instead of the Blank World gaining on them, they seemed to move at the same rate now. Lucy's face wasn't blue anymore, King looked a little younger even, and Meggie had never looked so determined. Bently felt proud at the sight of them.

Finally, they reached the top. They had walked or rather, half ran, all day, and now the world was getting darker. Bently hoped they would have enough light to fight and get out of here in time.

They now stood at the edge of the crater Quigley had been talking about. Down inside it, at the very bottom, were three figures and a large rock. Or maybe it was a small person.

"There they are," Quigley breathed.

"Let's go get 'em," Bently said, eager to fight. And they started their decent.

The crater was coated in ice. All of them slid down the slope at one point or another. As they clambered down, the Blank World was catching back up. As soon as they reached the somewhat level floor of the crater, there was nothing _but_ the crater. This needed to end now.

Jasper had a boy and girl tied up who Bently assumed were Violet and Klaus. On the ground next to them was a small child who couldn't have been older than three, who was tied up as well. All three of the kids were looking blue.

"You're too late, McQuinn," said Jasper, his eyes red and skin whiter than the snow. "As soon as they're frozen, all I need to do is take care of those triplets and this world will be completely gone. All the books will disappear."

"It's not too late yet," growled Bently, and he pulled Gryffindor's Sword and charged.

But Jasper was fast. Very fast. He was gone long before Bently even reached the spot where he used to be standing.

"I know your tricks, McQuinn," Jasper shouted. His voice echoed around the crater from where he was standing on its slope, very far away. "I know all you need is to get that Medallion near me, but that won't be happening. All I need to do is wait for the Blank World to just eat you up."

"Good plan," Bently said sarcastically. "But then, it'll eat you too, and we both lose."

"No, just you. Because my mistress will continue to destroy books, and soon, she'll rule the world!"

"That's what you'd like to think," retorted Bently. He didn't know what to do next.

The triplets had untied Violet and were now working on Sunny and Klaus.

"H-how can I help?" she asked Bently, shivering. He threw his cloak around her shoulders.

"Make sure you don't lose my notebook, but I need to somehow get this medallion near or, preferably, on him," he said, pulling out the Medallion from underneath his shirt. He started shivering almost immediately.

Violet frowned at the Medallion for a moment before pulling a ribbon from her pocket and tying her hair up with it. "These rocks…" she muttered. "If you heat them up, they'll stick to cold things. We could wrap the medallion around a rock and then get the rock to stick to him."

"Brilliant," Bently said. "I need my notebook and pen." Violet handed them to him, and he yelled, "Everyone huddle around me! He won't come near as long as I have the Medallion!" And so everyone drew weapons and threw their cloaks around each other, trying to heat back up. The storm was raging even more, and the Blank World was starting to creep down and into the crater.

"Or…" said Lucy. "If we're good, we could just wait until the Blank World forces him near us."

"I think he'd rather sacrifice himself. Let me write."

Bently scribbled furiously, ignoring the threatening frostbite on his fingers and the numbing of everything else on himself.

"Quick, Meggie!"

"_Below the group, despite the blizzard, the ground was growing warmer and warmer. The volcano was waking up. The ice on the ground was melting, and their feet were starting to get some feeling back in them. Soon, there was steam around them, heating them. The rocks were almost hot._"

As she read, the ground indeed started to defrost. Bently gave Violet the Medallion, who chose a rock and wrapped the chain securely around it.

"You've got one chance," she said, handing Bently the rock.

"Right," he said, testing the weight in his hand. He had no idea if he could do this or not.

"Bently, let me do it," said Lucy, her teeth still chattering slightly. "He's coming closer, and I'm the best shot."

He handed her the rock and Medallion with a, "Don't miss." She merely nodded.

Through the steam and blizzard and approaching Blank World, all they could see of Jasper was a grey outline. He didn't seem to be trying very hard to escape.

Lucy threw the rock with all her might and it hit its target. Bently rushed forward, the Sword in his hands and found Jasper. He was struggling to pull the rock off him, which had stuck to his hands. The last expression on Jasper's face before Bently ran the sword through him was a look of pure surprise. The rock and Medallion fell through the air and Bently caught it as the blizzard swept Jasper's orange dust away. The Blank World had been at Bently's toes and now it too retreated twice as fast as it had been eating the world.

The blizzard let up. The snow was falling gently, but didn't stick on the ground because of the steam. Bently felt completely warm now, and he sheathed the sword again as the Blank World went zooming back.

"Thanks, Bently McQuinn," Violet said, holding Sunny up in her arms. "We can start to fix things again."

"Well, you know, we wouldn't want for your world to disappear, that would be awful," Bently said, smiling. "How many more books, Meggie?"

"Two," she said, frowning.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked.

"Well, I just got another report from Hogwarts," Meggie replied, holding up a sheet of paper. "They're under attack again. We're going to need to go help them after we finish up with _Alice in Wonderland_."

"So make it fast?" Bently asked, throwing the Medallion and his cloak back on and shoving the notebook and pen into the hidden pocket.

"Yeup."

Meggie put away the paper and pulled out _Alice in Wonderland_, turning to the passage that would let them into the book.

"Bye! Thanks again!" said the triplets as the characters began walking away.

"_There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over it's head._"

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**That's a weird chapter xD**


	20. UnWonderland

White faded to black and then back to colour. Bently looked around their new location, expecting lots of different colours and things he had never seen before. But all he saw was a plain forest, with plain looking trees and normal colours.

"Meggie, are you sure you read out of the right book?" he asked, frowning as they started walking. Where were the rocking horseflies? The talking flowers?

"Yes, I'm sure," she said, checking the book inside and out. "Oh my… look at this everyone."

Everyone stopped and crowded around to where she was pointing. Her finger was next to one of the many illustrations in the book. But instead of walking animals singing and dancing around Alice, there was a girl with short, dark hair petting dumb, domesticated animals. The other Alice, the fairy one, had taken over strongly, so strong that the book itself had been changed.

"This is _not_ good," Lucy whispered.

"Let's keep going," King suggested, and they began walking again.

"Hopefully we can find someone who can give us directions to wherever Alice is so we can defeat her," said Bently. Normally, this would have been a stupid idea. Trying to get directions in Wonderland was like trying to lick the end of your elbow; you couldn't do it, and you ended up looking like a fool. But considering what they saw so far, all the… the _normalcy_ of Wonderland, it might not have been such a dumb idea after all.

They walked for a while and Bently got more and more uneasy with every few steps. This was wrong, so wrong. Wonderland should be the drug hallucination land, not the normal land.

Finally, they walked out into a clearing in the forest and found a long table set for a tea party. At the head of the table sat a man in a deep purple suit with a large black top hat, and in his arms he held a large, light brown rabbit.

"Good evening, you're just in time for tea," the man said, standing.

"Hello, who are you?" Lucy asked. She was the first to approach him, and he handed her the rabbit.

"Why, I'm the Hatter of course, and this is my hare, March," the Hatter said, taking off his hat and bowing to her.

"You don't much act like the Mad Hatter," Meggie said reproachfully.

"Mad? Me? Oh no, my dear, I am perfectly sane," said the Hatter, chuckling a slight bit.

But then, as Bently approached him, the Hatter's eyes went a slight bit cross-eyed. His cloths started changing colours, and his chuckle turned into hysterical laughter.

"Now, you _must _try the saucers, they came in lovely this year from Horgbern, go on," he muttered, and took a bite of the saucer.

"Bently, the Medallion…" Meggie said in wonder. "It's making him mad again!"

Mouth slightly agape, Bently backed away from the Hatter, and as soon as he was a few feet away from him, the Hatter went back to prim and proper, setting the saucer back down on the table and daubing at the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief.

"It is," Bently agreed, glowing. He pulled out the Medallion and looked at it with renewed interest. This thing was really powerful.

"Wait," said King. "Doesn't Alice have some sort of power?"

Bently thought for a moment. "Yeah, she does. She can see the future. But maybe not for long." He pulled out the notebook and pen and took a seat at the tea table. He hoped it would work when he finished, and read it over several times. Those were the right words, but if he could actually change anything with them would be up to Meggie.

"_Alice was frustrated. Every time she tried to see what was coming in the future, just gain the tiniest little bit of foresight, she was met with black. All she could see was black, no matter what she tried. Angry, she started tearing through all the books she could find, but in not one of them could she find answers. 'I'll just have to fix it when I get back and I'm done with this book,' she thought._"

Meggie looked up at Bently when she finished. "Do you think that'll work?"

"Well, the only way we're going to find out is if we find Alice," said Bently. "If it did, it'll just make things a bit easier for us. And it might be the only way we can get anywhere close to her." He now turned to the Hatter. "Do you know where Alice is?"

"Alice? Oh yes," he said, accepting the March Hare back from Lucy. "She defeated the Red Queen a long time ago. We've all been leaving peacefully since then."

"Yes, but where _is_ she?"

"Why, she took over the Red Queen's Palace!"

Bently and the others all looked at each other. "Looks like we've got another palace-storming to attend," said Lucy cheerfully.

"Yeah, and hopefully, Alice won't escape this one."

"Do you think she'll try and contact Meyer to get a fix for her sight, if it worked?" Meggie asked.

"Well, I don't think she'll leave to get it fixed, because if she does, everything will go back to the way it was and she'll have to start all over again," reasoned King. "From the looks of things, she's been at this for a while. It must have taken some time to tame Wonderland."

"Would you be able to take us to her?" Bently asked the Hatter. "We'd really like to meet her, but we're new here, and we just don't know where the Red Queen's Palace is." This smooth-talking was unnatural for him.

He could just hear Pansy giving him hell now. '_It's the Slytherin in you coming out,_' she would be saying.

Bently smiled slightly at the thought. '_I hope wherever she is, her arm is better,_' he thought randomly.

"Yes, I will take you there now," said the Hatter with another bow. Bently kept well away from the Hatter and Hare. Not that he didn't want to get them back to being mad again, but he just thought it would be better if they waited until they were at the palace to start unleashing the madness within. He would rather _not_ be lost in Wonderland.

They set off through the forest, walking quietly. Everything was much too pleasant, much too calm, much too _normal_. It was actually boring and a bit disappointing. True, Bently had wished for a little bit of a break from all the adventures, but not to this extreme. A _little_ adventure was alright.

After a while, they came out of the forest and into a rocky sort of badland. Way in the distance was an elegant red, white and black castle. "Is that it?" asked Lucy.

"Yes, but it is further away than you think it is. Let us sleep here at the edge of the forest for the night, and then prepare to embark in the morning," suggested the Hatter. Everyone agreed, mostly because they were very exhausted and had not slept since they had left Max and the flock.

Bently pulled out his wand, wondering if it would work. "Incendio," he muttered, pointing it at a small shrub. It burst into flames. "Excellent," he grinned, and started conjuring tents and a fire. Then he wrote in food for everyone, and they enjoyed a rather pleasant meal in Wonderland. The sun sank behind the castle, and the four companions put their heads together a little ways away from the Hatter and Hare.

"You know, just in case he's on _her _side," Bently explained. "We need a plan of attack. Obviously, it'll depend on what happens when we get in the castle, but a basic plan is nice. Right Lucy?"

"Right," she agreed. "I don't think we should split up again. Last time we did that, Bently lost a finger. So whatever happens, let's try really hard to not get separated again."

"Agreed," said Meggie. "Also, I just thought about this… she's in the Red Queen's castle, right?"

"Right."

"So the cards will be there too, supposedly. I don't think she'd get rid of her own personal army, so she probably turned them."

"Meaning we'll have to be extra careful not to get caught by them," finished Bently.

"Exactly."

"Okay, so the basic plan is don't get separated and watch out for the cards. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"Good. See you all in the morning, bright and early."

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**I love the next chapter xD**


	21. Not At All Alice

The sun rose slowly and Bently woke with it. Since he was the first one up, he began working on a short piece for an awesome breakfast. By the time he had finished, everyone except for the Hatter was up, so Meggie read them breakfast and they ate happily.

Once everything was packed away, they started for the castle, the morning sun in their eyes. It was a long and very hot walk across the badlands to the castle. Bently used _Aguimenti_ several times to not only let everyone have some water, but to cool them all down. But again, everything was creepily normal. It still didn't sit well with Bently, and he wanted to get rid of the fairy Alice as soon as possible so everything could go back to nonsensical like it should be.

It took most of the day to get to the castle. In fact, it was late in the afternoon, probably around three-thirty or four. Since the Hatter was leading them, the cards on the towers let down the drawbridge, eyeing them suspiciously.

Inside the front gate were the lavish gardens the Red Queen had once so coveted. All the roses were red, and no, they hadn't been painted. They had actually been planted correctly. Bently frowned. He had preferred the painted ones. In fact, he had tried to paint his mother's roses white when he was a child and had first been read_ Alice in Wonderland_. The memory made him laugh internally.

And in the middle of the garden, blocking the path to the interior of the castle, was the black, scaly mass of legs and body; the Jabberwock.

"Dammit," Bently swore under his breath. His hand gripped the hilt of the sword tightly, turning his knuckles white. Not another lizard thing to fight.

The Jabberwock opened one bright green eye and lazily rose to inspect the newcomers. "Who dares disturb my slumber?" it asked in a deep voice, far deeper than anything Bently had ever heard.

"It is only I, the Hatter, bringing travelers who wish to visit with Alice," said the Hatter, bowing low to the ground, sweeping his hat with him.

The Jabberwock let him pass, but stopped the companions. "Let me see—_Hatter!_"

The Hatter jumped in the passageway.

"What is the meaning of bringing the hero to the castle?" the Jabberwock boomed, purple smoke beginning to puff out its nose.

The Hatter merely gaped at the Jabberwock.

"Never mind, you useless fool!" it cried, and turned back to Bently, who had his sword ready.

"Let me through, Jabberwock, or I'll slay you!" Bently yelled out, sounding far braver than he felt. And yet, he was a lot braver than when he had started this whole ordeal. He signaled to the others to get away from him, and they slowly started sliding away to the bushes.

"Ha! You think you can beat me?" yelled out the Jabberwock vainly.

"You? You're a pile of old scales!" Bently thought his insult was rather clever, and it made the Jabberwock's eyes spark with anger.

"You little fool!" it cried out, and lunged for Bently.

But this was exactly what Bently had been waiting for. He slashed out and the Jabberwock reared back, angrier. It blew emerald green flames at Bently, who rolled out of the way and into a shrub. He heard scrambling as one of his companions ran away from the battle. '_Good,_' Bently thought. '_I don't want anyone to get hurt on my behalf._'

And so when the Jabberwock came stomping through the bushes, breathing its fire, Bently again rolled, this time out of the bushes, and started running. He had no idea what he was aiming to do, other than kill the Jabberwock of course.

Green fire was all around him, but he kept running, not daring to look back or stop for fear of being eaten or burnt to a crisp. He kept a tight grip on Gryffindor's Sword so he wouldn't lose it no matter how sweaty his hand got. He accidentally nicked his shins a few times with the sword, but it only cut his pants and legs a little. He threw himself behind a stone statue and tried to catch his breath.

"_Stop!_"

The flames went away, and Bently kept hidden. He thought well enough to pull out his wand and use a Disillusionment Charm on himself. Then he sheathed the sword and crept slowly out from behind the statue.

He saw the Jabberwock had stopped, looking at the statue still. All around them were red cards, and out of the tunnel marched the fairy Alice. She was wearing one of the Red Queen's dresses, or at least, that's what Bently assumed, since the dress was red, black, and had a heart pattern on it. The cards nearest her held his companions, and Bently moved slowly away from the statue, praying the Jabberwock couldn't see him.

Cards rushed the statue, and Bently crouched next to the bushes, trying to flatten himself so they wouldn't bump him. He doubted they could see him, but just in case, he muttered, "Confundus." The cards went back to Alice, confused.

"We don't see him, Your Majesty," the Eight of Hearts reported.

Alice looked angry. "Well, find him then! I can't have him wandering around. You!" she shouted, looking up at the Jabberwock now. "How could you let him escape?"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, he was very quick—"

"_Don't give me that excuse!_" Alice screamed, and from her waist she pulled a long whip that lit with purple flames when she unrolled it. She brought it across the Jabberwock's face and it flinched back in anger. "Now _find him!_"

"Yes, Your Majesty," said the Jabberwock in its deep voice and bowed her out of the courtyard.

"The rest of you, come with me! We need to lock these three away somewhere deep…"

And that was the last thing Bently heard. Frustrated, he relaxed a bit but kept by the hedge. This was not going according to plan… at all. He sat there thinking of things he could do. He could just go find Alice and fight her, but he didn't see himself winning using this tactic. And if he was going to write something, he would at least need Meggie to read whatever it was he had written. And Alice was really powerful… he didn't know if he could fight her on his own.

Bently looked up and saw the Jabberwock sniffing around for him. Then Bently got caught with a sudden idea that might just work. He stood and removed his Disillusionment Charm, and called, "Jabberwock!"

The Jabberwock reared when it saw him. "There you are, you slippery fish!" it called, slithering over towards him. "Do you wish to die nobly?"

"I do, but before you kill me," said Bently, sheathing his sword. "I wish to ask you a question."

It snorted smoke in his face as it came down to his eye level. "And what is that?"

"Has she always treated you so poorly? Alice, that is." Bently stood tall and solidly, looking into the Jabberwock's eye with all his intensity. "Surely you've done nothing to warrant such a whipping? And in any case, what is a great beast like yourself doing obeying her commands? You should be out in Wonderland, doing as you please."

He had no idea why he was talking like this, but it just felt right. The Jabberwock seemed to be pondering his words.

"What is your name, human?" it finally asked.

"Bently McQuinn."

"Bently McQuinn, you see many things and think well."

"Thank you. And you, Jabberwock, are very powerful and strong. I was wrong to taunt you before."

"And I you."

"I believe we can work together, if you will permit it," said Bently cautiously. "If you help me, Jabberwock, we can work together to defeat Alice, restore Wonderland to its previous state, and set you free to do whatever you wish."

"But before Alice took over, I was slave to the Red Queen," replied the Jabberwock, his eyes narrowing a slight bit.

"I promise you that I will do everything within my power to make sure you are slave to no one," said Bently, bowing his head. "I give you my word, I swear upon my grave."

The Jabberwock considered for a moment. "If you can free me, then I will help you free Wonderland, Bently McQuinn."

Bently grinned and pumped a fist into the air. "Awesome!"

"Climb on my back, Bently McQuinn, and I shall take you to this leech, Alice," said the Jabberwock, lowering its neck. Bently scrambled on and sat just behind the Jabberwock's head.

"Let's go fight some fairy vampires!" Bently cried, and at a breakneck speed, the Jabberwock slithered into the palace.

Bently laid flat on the Jabberwock's neck, gripping tightly to the great lizard so as not to fall off. They wound through the corridors of the castle, scattering cards out of the way, bursting through doors, and tearing up tapestries of Alice. Finally with a jerk, they burst through the thick doors to the throne room.

The room was tall and long in both extremes. Many stained glass windows lined the walls, making the light in the room slightly red. Tall columns held up the ceiling in between the windows, and the red carpet leading up to the throne was plush.

"Jabberwock! What are you doing in my throne room?" asked the cold voice of Alice. "I don't need any more distractions right now, I'm trying to get my sight back!"

Either Alice was blind now, or Bently's writing had worked. The latter seemed more likely, and Bently smirked. He swung his legs to one side of the Jabberwock's neck and slid off, landing softly on the carpet. He looked up at Alice, still smirking. She looked at him in surprise.

"Good, Jabberwock, you've caught him," she said, pleased, rising from her throne. Bently drew the sword, and she stopped.

"I no longer serve you, Alice Cullen," said the Jabberwock fiercely, rearing up, nostrils smoking.

Alice's face fell into a demonic snarl, and she pulled the fire whip from her waist. "So be it. Prepare to die, both of you." She unfurled the whip and struck it in the air. It grew longer and longer as it lit on fire, sending purple and black sparks of fire, burning the carpet slightly.

The Jabberwock launched itself forward and so did Alice, and they were engaged in a full on fire-fight in moments. Bently didn't know what to do; they were moving far too fast for him to join in, almost too fast for his eyes to keep up. But he saw an opportunity when Alice whipped the Jabberwock across the face and it stumbled away slightly.

Bently ran forward, sword raised for an attack. He slashed at Alice, and thankfully he was close enough that the Medallion effected her, and she couldn't dodge away at her fairy speed, only at a human speed. Bently turned and slashed again, but she whipped him and the whip caught around the sword. It burned Bently's right hand a bit and she wrenched the sword out of his hands, throwing it to the other side of the room. Bently fell over, clutching his hand. Of _course_, the hand with four fingers just _had_ to get burned too. '_Of all the crappy luck in the world…_' he thought as he rolled over. Alice was motioning to whip him, but the Jabberwock rammed her and they went sprawling into a column, threatening to destroy it.

Bently scrambled back to his feet. He looked around wildly and finally found the sword, next to the throne. He ran towards it, dodging the green fire of the Jabberwock that crossed his pack, ducked the purple whip fire, and snatched up the sword. He clambered onto the throne's arms to get a better view of the room. The Jabberwock had Alice in its jaws, but it wasn't doing anything to her because the Medallion was so far away from her.

"Jabberwock! Throw her to me!" Bently yelled, raising the sword above his head.

The Jabberwock tossed his head and Alice flew through the air in total disarray. She had no sense of where she was going or what was going on around her. The last thing she saw was the Sword of Gryffindor as Bently lept into the air to meet her.

"Off with your head!" Bently yelled, and with the strongest swipe he could muster, he cut off her head. She exploded into white dust and Bently landed, panting. He stood and sheathed the sword. All around them, the crazy colours of Wonderland started coming back. The arches went from plain to heart-shaped, the stained glass windows began depicting the Red Queen doing things only the people of Wonderland would understand, and the Jabberwock had wings again.

"Thank you, Jabberwock," said Bently. "If you wait here for myself and my friends, I will free you from all slavery."

"Be quick, and remember what I will do if you fail to free me."

"I would never dream of betraying you," Bently swore. He honestly never wouldn't; the Jabberwock still intimidated him.

He started running back through the corridors, looking for the nearest card. Various creatures from Wonderland cheered him as he ran, but he ignored them. His friends and the Jabberwock were much more important right now.

Finally, he found a card and stopped it. "Where did you take the travelers from the courtyard?" he asked, panting.

"I don't know," the card said simply, and began continuing on.

Bently stopped it and shoved it against the wall. "I don't have time for games! _Where are they?_"

"In the d-deep dungeon!" the card stuttered.

"Take me there!"

Bently forced the card to run, and they practically flew down more passages. They raced around corners, through doors, past blurs that were creatures and other cards, and down flights of stairs. They went down and down, further and further, deeper and deeper into the castle. It got steadily warmer, contrary to what Bently expected, but then again, Wonderland _was_ back to what they considered normal again.

They finally stopped outside a blank wall. The card pushed on the wall, and it gave way and opened into a cellar with a grassy floor. Inside were King, Meggie, and Lucy. Meggie was the first to jump up. She rushed over and hugged Bently.

"You're alright Bently! I assume you got rid of Alice, 'cuz the floor went from stone to grass."

"Yeah, she's gone, but I need you guys up in the throne room, especially you, Meggie."

"Why?"

"I need to free the Jabberwock."

And so they all followed Bently back up through the castle. Bently had the card lead them back, but not quite as fast because the other three were a bit shaky after being stuck in the cell. Bently's mind raced twice as fast as his legs, trying to figure out what he wanted to write. By the time they reached the throne room once more, he knew exactly what he wanted to write.

The Jabberwock was still there, and with him was the Hatter, the March Hare, and the real Alice, her blonde curls sweeping around her. Everyone was back to how they should be; completely mad.

"Alright Jabberwock, just let me get it written down and for Meggie to read it, and you'll be free," Bently assured the great lizard. He sat on the floor and whipped out the notebook and pen, and began scribbling away.

He was done fairly soon, and Meggie took the notebook. She cleared her throat and began to read.

"_For too long the Jabberwock had served the Red Queen. She had forced him to do some unspeakable things, and some things he never would have done under normal circumstances. But now, with a few words, he would be free. The Hatter looked up at Bently, and asked, 'How is a raven like a writing desk?' And Bently replied, 'They are so unalike, they are the same.' And the Jabberwock felt the magic lift, and he slithered out of the castle and away across the badlands, free to do whatever he wished. He lived to be an ancient age, and no one even considered trying to enslave him ever again._"

Bently looked up and made eye contact with the Hatter, who had one turquoise eye and one bright yellow one.

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" he asked.

Bently smiled. "They are so unalike, they are the same," he replied.

The Jabberwock gave Bently a lizard-y smile. "Thank you, Bently McQuinn," he said in his deep voice, and he slid out of the throne room.

There was a moment of silence that Meggie broke. "Bently, I got a report from Hogwarts while we were in the cell. We need to go back there right away, they're under attack from Bella and Jacob."

"Great, just great," Bently growled. "Alright, take us there."

"Thank you Bently, for saving Wonderland," Alice said, waving a delicate hand at him.

"My pleasure," Bently said, giving her a half smile. And then Meggie pulled out a book and started reading.

"_Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting._"

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**I really, really adore this chapter :D**

**Thank you guys for the reviews! **


	22. Hogwarts Once Again

Bently found himself once more back in the familiar scene of the Great Hall of Hogwarts. But unlike other times he had been there, the hall was full of characters from its own book. They all had their wands out and were looking at the door as if for waiting for something.

"Bently! Thank Merlin you're here!"

Neville Longbottom greeted them, walking over to them. "Where's Pansy?"

"Long story," said Bently, pulling out his own wand. "Short story is, Jacob kidnapped her and we don't know where she is."

"Great. Do you have the Medallion?"

"Yeah, you think you can amplify it's power?"

"Yes, while it's in this book, I can," said Neville, accepting the Medallion from Bently. He waived his wand around it and then levitated it to the center of the Hall. "Anything that comes in the Hall that's under control of those two, them included, will lose their powers."

"This Medallion rocks," Bently muttered.

"What are we doing, Bently?" Lucy asked, looking around the hall in slight confusion.

"Fighting fairy vampires," Bently replied, smirking.

Then the Great Hall doors burst open, and the fight broke out. "The Crazy are back!" Ernie Macmillen yelled out as he sent spells flying. The Crazy were girls from Bently's world, ranging thirteen to eighteen years of age, and when they "died," they burst into blue dust. Just like last time.

"Booyah for familiarity," said Bently with glee, shooting fire spells at The Crazy. They were practically evaporating from all the Hogwarts students who were fighting. Bently fought with Luna Lovegood and Ernie for quite a while, standing on the Hufflepuff table near the doors, shooting spells almost lazily.

But after a while, everyone was starting to get tired, and The Crazy just kept coming. Bently's side was also suffering some injuries. Whenever a Crazy got a hold of someone, they scratched like mad with their long nails and kicked like horses. One beat up Terry Boot quite a bit before Ron and Seamus managed to kill it.

"They're endless!" yelled out Lucy, who was holding her own with her knife.

"Aren't we hurting them?" asked Meggie. "I mean, they are from your world, Bently."

"No, when you kill them, they're just going back to their world," said King. "It's only when you get killed in your own world do you get sent to the Blank World, or if someone writes you there."

Then through the throng of the Crazy waltzed Bella and Jacob, holding hands. They both hissed when they saw Bently.

"So, McQuinn, you live," growled Jacob. "Well, now it's time for you and all your Potter friends to meet their ends."

"You wish, dog boy," said Bently, and he pounced.

Bella threw herself between Bently and Jacob, and he ended up tackling her instead. "Don't kill Jacob, I want him alive!" Bently yelled wildly to the others as Bella ripped at his hair. He stashed his wand and resorted to just using his fists. Normally, he wouldn't hit a girl, but he thought he might make Bella a special case.

"YOU KILLED MY EDDY!" she screamed. People formed a ring around them to keep the fight somewhat contained and from The Crazy from interfering.

"He deserved it!" Bently shouted back. "The Fairy Lord had no place at Hogwarts! And neither do you, Fairy Princess!"

"That's right, _I am a freaking princess!_" Bella yelled, scratching Bently's face and drawing blood. He kicked her off him and he scrambled to his feet, drawing the sword with amazing speed.

Bella was about to lunge at him again but stopped just short of the blade going through her chest. They both stood there, panting furiously. Bella was looking up at Bently with irate, red-rimmed eyes.

"You can't kill me, I'm a princess," she breathed.

"Too bad, so sad," said Bently satirically, and he ran her through with the sword. Bella screamed and turned into a pile of pink dust.

"We've got him, too!" yelled out Neville, and he and Ernie threw Jacob into the circle. They had used a binding curse on him, so all he could do was look up at Bently from the floor of the Great Hall.

"Good," Bently said, kneeling down to Jacob's level. Bently set the sword against Jacob's throat. "Where's Pansy?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter. Even if you kill me, you'll never get to the Mistress."

"_Where_ _is she_, Jacob?" Bently asked again, a little forcefully. "And I wouldn't be so sure, I've kicked the crap out of all of you, I think I can beat her."

"You'll never even get in to Oz," Jacob laughed. "The Mistress enveloped it in complete darkness. Not even your stupid wands can make light in it."

Bently stopped for a moment, thinking. If what he said was true, then… they would need that bloody Elf light to get into Oz. And who was the last one to have the light? Pansy, of course.

"That's great, Jacob, but _what did you do with her?_" Bently pressed the blade against Jacob's jaw, drawing a little blood.

Jacob laughed even more. "You'll never get her back in a million years. Not even your mentor can get her back."

"WHERE IS SHE GOD DAMN IT?"

"Bently, don't you get it?" Meggie asked, her eyes hurt. "She's in the Blank World. Meyer must have sent her there."

Jacob started laughing and howling like a maniac. "_Shut up!_" Bently yelled, and he stabbed Jacob, who burst into brown dust.

Breathing heavily, Bently stood. He was even angrier than Bella had been while they had been fighting.

"King, is there any way we can get her back?"

"Bently, I—"

"_Is there any way?_"

It was almost a minute before King answered. "I… maybe. But I've tried it, and I have never been successful. There's only one person I can think of who ever did it successfully…"

"Who was it?"

"My mentor, Edger Allen Poe."

The hall was silent. Bently shook his head. "And… exactly how are we supposed to get Edger Allen Poe here? He's dead, isn't he?"

"Of course, but… we could call upon his ghost."

"Well, then do it."

King took the notebook and pen from Bently and started writing. He wrote slowly, choosing his words carefully, and the handed the notebook to Meggie.

"If I have any power left, it'll work," said King.

Meggie nodded and started reading.

"_The Great Hall went deathly silent and cold. Everyone's breath was soon rising to the ceiling, and people began shivering. Bently stood in the ring of students, holding himself strong against the cold. 'Edger Allen Poe!' he yelled. 'Show yourself!' Miraculously, the student's breaths started swirling around Bently. An apparition was slowly appearing in front of him. It was the ghost of Edger Allen Poe._"


	23. Pansy and Poe

Instantly, the temperature dropped in the Hall. '_It's working, it's working!_' Bently thought in excitement. The breath mist from everyone in the Hall started swirling around Bently, just as King had written.

"Edger Allen Poe! Show yourself!" Bently called out, trying to mask his enthusiasm with maturity.

And in moments, the ghost of Edger Allen Poe appeared.

His ghost was nothing more than a head, shoulders, and an arm. He was blue-grey, with a bald head and long beard, and he had a black ghost raven perched on his arm. Both his and the raven's eyes were a glowing red.

"Who are you, boy, to have called upon me?" Poe asked, looking down at Bently with disapproval.

"I'm the new master writer, Bently McQuinn," said Bently, keeping eye contact with Poe. "Your apprentice, Stephen King, summoned you, actually."

"Stephen?" asked Poe, looking around to see King smiling mysteriously.

"Hello, Edger," greeted King. "We need your help."

"So you bring back my ghost?" asked Poe, irritated. He shook his head and sighed. "What do you need this time?"

"There's a character we need, but she's trapped in the Blank World," Bently explained. "King said you've written characters out of the Blank World and restored them to their last stories. How did you do that?"

"It was no easy task, McQuinn," said Poe, floating down to Bently's level. "I had to restore Hamlet back to his story."

"Yes, but _how_ did you do it?"

"Be patient. You see, first we needed to go into his world. Once there, I had to write about Hamlet like he was a new character, but gave him all the same characteristics as the old Hamlet. And a little while after my reader, Charlotte, read him back in, he appeared, like he hadn't been gone at all. But be warned; if you don't write them precisely correct, the character will come back incomplete."

"Thanks, Poe," said Bently. "I'll do my best now."

"I would say good luck, but I have a feeling you'll fail," said Poe, and he started to dissipate.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bently asked angrily, but Poe was already gone.

Pansy walked around the Blank World with Darth Vader. He was the only person she had talked to here, and he was very interesting to talk to. He told her stories about fighting strange aliens and flying space ships, and she told him about all the crazy things that happened at Hogwarts and what she could remember of her journey with Bently.

"The last thing I remember before waking up here was Jacob grabbing me in Narnia and dragging me through some portal thing," Pansy concluded. "I think something else happened, but I don't remember it." She rubbed her arm where the wolf had bitten her. All the rot was gone and her arm was completely healed; there wasn't even a scar. But Pansy could still feel it deep inside her. Whether it was indeed still there or it was just her mind playing tricks on her, she had no idea. But she didn't want her arm to look like an Inferi's again.

"Interesting," said Darth. Pansy was getting used to his mechanical voice.

"Do you know what happens when you leave here?" Pansy asked.

"I don't know," Darth replied. "I believe you go to a new story, though."

"Cool. I can't wait to get back to fighting fairies."

"Bently, how are you doing?"

Bently gave a start and messed up the "s" he was currently penning. He looked up to see Meggie standing there in the doorway to Dumbledore's office.

"Fine," Bently muttered.

It had been exactly three days since King had summoned Poe's ghost. Bently had spent those three days writing, and he had made hardly any progress. Every time he finished a passage, he re-read it, balled it up, and threw it somewhere in the office. He had promised the portraits on the walls that he would clean up the headmaster's office once he was done.

But no matter what he did, the words just wouldn't come. He emptied his mind and wrote, but despite the fact that every time he got a little further, he felt like he was still missing something. He didn't know what that missing piece was, and it was driving him crazy. He could describe Pansy in every way from the shape of her nose to the way she walked to the way she frowned a little when she did magic, but _something_ was still missing.

"Bently, you can hardly see the floor you've got so many balls of paper scattered around."

Bently sighed and put down the pen. "I just… I'm missing something. Every time I write about Pansy, it just doesn't seem quite right. I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

He handed her the latest version which was still intact in his notebook and she scanned over it. "I don't think you're doing anything wrong. Maybe you just need a new approach."

"New approach?" Bently asked blankly.

"Yeah. I'm not sure what that might be, but maybe you should try writing it a different way. You've got everything you need there, you just need to get it to flow together better."

Bently took the dangerously thin notebook and looked at it again. He tore out the current page and threw it somewhere by the Pensive. If they ever got there, he had better take the second notebook into Oz.

"Alright, thanks Meggie."

Bently wrote all night. It was a long and slow process, and his eyes ached with exhaustion by the time he had finished. He fell asleep in Dumbledore's chair with his head resting on the desk. He slept soundly until he felt someone shaking him.

"Uh… eh?" Bently asked wearily as he looked up with slightly blurry vision. Neville had been the one shaking him.

"How goes it?" Neville asked, a kind smile on his face.

"Oh, good! I think I finished it!" said Bently with slurred enthusiasm, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"You sure?" Neville asked with caution. "We don't want a fluffy-loving Pansy back with us."

"No, I'm sure this'll work, I finally found the right words," said Bently, getting up and snatching up the notebook. He set it inside the hidden pocket along with the pen and spare notebook.

"Alright, I'll gather everyone in the Great Hall. Fifteen minutes, alright?"

"Right, that'll work."

Bently pulled the notebook back out after Neville left and read it over once more. It just had to be the right words. If not, they were all doomed.

"Ready Meggie?"

The four companions and Neville stood up on the Staff Table, facing lots of characters. Most were from Hogwarts, but some were from other books that they had already saved.

Meggie nodded at Bently. "I am if this is right."

"It is," Bently assured her. Even though King had read through it and approved it, on the inside, Bently panicked slightly. What if it didn't work? What then? Would they still be able to get in to Oz? And for some strange reason, he thought… what would everyone think if he failed? Would they lose faith in him? Or would they understand that this was difficult, so difficult that not even Stephen King himself had been able to do it?

"Alright, here goes," said Meggie. Bently fought the urge to clench his eyes shut.

"_A storm raged outside the Great Hall. The lightning lit the sky and thunder claps shook the entire castle moments afterwards. The rain pelted the windows, and if the drops were any stronger, they might have broken some windows. The wind was blowing impossibly fast, whipping trees around in the Forbidden Forest. Hogwarts hadn't seen a storm like this in years._

_But through the storm, someone appeared and started walking towards the castle. They had a long, dark green cloak, black jeans, a long sleeve green shirt, and black boots. They carried a long wooden wand in their hands, and the storm was pelting them with all it had. The figure walked up to the oak front doors and opened them, stepped inside, and shut out the storm behind them._

_They took off their sopping hood and shook out their long brown hair. They tightened the pony tail their hair was in and waved their wand, drawing all the water out of their cloths and into a large puddle on the floor. _

_This figure, a female one, had blue-grey eyes that flashed with sarcasm and distrust. Their walk was almost a swagger, and they carried themselves with pride. Their boots clunked in the empty Entrance Hall as they walked over to the closed doors of the Great Hall. _

_With a grunt, they pushed the doors opened and entered. Everyone in the hall turned around to see Pansy Parkinson walk into the Great Hall, back from the Blank World. She stood there, smirking up at Bently. "Missed me?" she asked with that familiar bite to her voice. _

_The hall burst into cheers. Bently McQuinn had risen someone from the Blank World._"

Presently, they heard a huge boom of thunder above their heads. Everyone flinched as it started raining. The rain got steadily stronger and stronger until it was pelting against the castle.

'_Well, at least that part worked,_' Bently thought nervously. He wasn't sure if it was going to work at all, but so far, it seemed to be.

The storm raged and raged overhead. Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen. Bently grew steadily more nervous as the hall got more restless. Finally, at twenty minutes past…

"Way to go, Bently."

It was Ernie. He was standing, looking up at Bently with disgust. "She's not coming. Glad to know you can fail."

"Hey, give him some credit!" snapped Meggie. "At least he tried. You all heard Poe, it's really hard to do!"

"Yeah, and Poe was right," Ernie sneered. "He said McQuinn would fail, and it happened."

"Well, he certainly did a lot more than you did," Lucy retorted, but the hall started murmuring with agreements to Ernie.

"Whatever, I'm outta here," said Ernie, and he started for the door.

"Fine, just leave," Meggie called after him. Bently felt numb. He was so sure it would work when he wrote it, so _sure…_

Just as Ernie reached for the door, it swung open on its own.

"Missed me?"

Pansy stood in the doorway, her hair wet, smirking up at Bently. Ernie stopped in his tracks, stunned. And the hall burst into cheers.

"_Pansy?_ Is that you?" Ernie asked, incredulous.

"Yes, Ernie, do I look _that _different?" she asked, pushing past him.

Bently's heart rose. He had done it. _He had done it._

Bently jumped off the Staff Table and pushed past people, running to Pansy. He caught her up in a tight hug.

"Jeeze Bently, did Meggie make you go soft?" she asked sarcastically.

"No, you're just back!" Bently yelled, excited. "You still have that elf light, right?"

Pansy pulled it out of her cloak. "Right here. Why?"

"Good, 'cuz we're gonna need it. Meggie!"

"Yeah Bently?" she asked, herself, Lucy, and King all joining them.

"Let's get out of here and go fight the Fairy Mistress," Bently cheered. Smiling, Meggie pulled out _Wicked_ from her bag and lead everyone out into the Entrance Hall.

"We'll be back after we've won!" King yelled over his shoulder. Even he was grinning. "I knew you could do it, Bently," he said, ruffling Bently's hair.

"Thanks King, I didn't know if I could or not," Bently said truthfully. "Now, let's get this show on the road."

Meggie promptly opened up the book and started reading.

'_Shiz! She tried not to gawp. Everyone hustling on business, laughing and hurrying and kissing, dodging carriages, while the buildings of Railway Square, brownstone and bluestone and covered with vine and moss, steamed softly in the sunlight. The animals—and the Animals! She had scarcely ever come across even the odd chicken squawking philosophically in Frottica—but here was a quartet of tsebras at an outdoor café, dressed flashily in black-and-white satin stripes on the bias to their inborn design; and an elephant on its hind legs directing traffic; and a tiger dressed up in some sort of exotic religious garb, a kind of monk or maunt or nun or something. Yes, yes, it was Tsebras, and Elephant, and Tiger, and she supposed Goat. She would have to get used to enunciating the capital letters or else she would show off her country origins._"


	24. Ozlike

They went into darkness and stayed in darkness. At first, Bently panicked. Were they there? Had it not worked? Were they stuck in some kind of limbo?

"Can anyone else see?" asked the voice of Lucy next to him.

"Nope. You sure it worked, Meggie?" Pansy asked. She sure got back into the swing of things fast.

"Yes, I'm sure," she said, frowning. "This must be what Jacob was talking about. Can anyone light their wands?"

And so Pansy and Bently did. They were tiny little lights in a vast, never-ending darkness. At least they could see the faces of their companions.

"Well… how about that light, Pansy?" Bently asked.

"Right," she muttered, and pulled it out. She held it for a moment, then asked, "Erm… how do you light it?"

"Well, last time all I did was touch it…" said Bently, and Pansy handed it to him. As soon as the light touched him, it lit up, blinding them all.

When Bently's eyes finally adjusted themselves to the light, they found the darkness gone from about a ten meter radius around them.

They were in Oz all right, in Munchkinland, to be precise. But all the bright colours were washed out, and there were chickens. _Everywhere._

"What's with all the chickens?" King asked as Bently pulled out the new notebook and pen.

"I don't know, but I'm going to give Oz some more light," he said, and Lucy held the light for him as he sat down and scribbled out a few lines.

"_The elf light shined brighter than anything. It lit up all of Oz, every nook and cranny. It wouldn't be a permanent fix, but as long as the light was on in Oz, there would be light, at least until the heroes got rid of Meyer and the world returned back to normal._"

And indeed, the world got a lot brighter, and they could see in every direction for as far as their eyes would let them. Bently pocketed the notebook, pen, and light, which stayed on even in his pocket.

"Good to know that won't go out," said Bently, and he looked around.

Out of the houses came Munchkins. They were very little people, and they too had that washed out look everything else around them had. They spotted Bently and started chanting gleefully, "The hero is here! The hero is here!"

"On behalf of the Munchkin people, I thank you, hero, for coming" said one Munchkin, who came up and bowed to them. "My name is Boq. What is yours?"

"I'm Bently McQuinn, here with Lucy, Meggie, Stephen King, and Pansy," replied Bently. It felt nice to finally be able to introduce Pansy to people again. "Where is Meyer?"

Boq looked at the ground. "She is in the Emerald City, Bently McQuinn. She is heavily guarded, and she has some sort of power that makes it possible for her to do anything she likes to this world."

"And how do we get there?" Bently asked, guessing the answer.

"Follow the yellow brick road," replied Boq simply.

"Alright, thanks. Next time you see us, you'll be free," Bently assured them, and he started leading his companions down the yellow brick road.

Everything on the road was silent except for the clucking of chickens, which really did seem to be everywhere. Bently was very confused and slightly bothered by this plethora of chickens. They were of every size and colour, and by every colour, it really was _every colour_. Bently spotted a blue and a green one fighting over a pile of grain.

"This is _so _weird," Bently muttered to Meggie.

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on," she muttered back, shaking her head.

Soon, they came to a split in the road. They didn't know whether they should go left or right.

"Anyone remember which way she goes in the movie?" Bently asked as a joke. He knew only himself and maybe King had seen the movie. Lucy and Pansy probably didn't even know what a movie was.

"You won't be passing either way," said a voice, and from out of the tall grass in the split walked the Scarecrow. "I'm not supposed to let you pass, and least not without payment."

"Payment?" Bently asked, confused. '_Well that's great, we've got no money,_' he thought bitterly to himself. "Well, what do you want?"

"Gold would be nice. But…"

"But what?" Lucy asked encouragingly.

"I've always wanted… to be smarter," the Scarecrow admitted.

They stood there looking at him for a moment. How in the world could they help him get smarter? A gift card to Sylvan Learning Center?

Then Meggie made a realizing noise. "Oh! Would this help?" She pulled from her bag a pen, a small dictionary, and the piece of stationary she had stolen from _Phantom of the Opera_. "You could practice writing! Writing helps you learn lots of things!"

"Let's see," said the Scarecrow. He took the items and sat down. "I don't know…" he started, but his voice trailed away as he started writing. When he didn't speak for almost a minute, the companions crept away down to the right.

"So if Meyer set up the Scarecrow to stop us, does that mean we'll have to get past the Tin Man and Lion, as well?" Meggie asked.

"I would assume so, but I guess we'll find out for sure soon, won't we?" said Bently, and they started through a forest. It wasn't a very thick one, for there was plenty of space between the trees.

"This is so weird, it being so quite," whispered Lucy.

THUNK

"Ow!" Pansy yelped, whipping out her wand with one hand and rubbing the back of her head with the other. Then something hit Bently, too, and he found it to be an apple. A tree near them had another apple in its branch-hand.

And more and more trees were coming alive, stocking up on apples to throw at the travelers.

"Run!" Bently yelled, and they started sprinting down the (pale) yellow brick road. Apples hit their backs, their heads, and they tripped over them. It was literally raining apples.

"Protego!" Bently heard Pansy yell, and so he pulled out his wand and did the same. They ran on the sides of the group and their shields prevented most of the apples from hitting them.

They finally came to a stop when they saw the Tin Man in the middle of the road.

"You have obviously bested the Scarecrow, but getting past me will be harder," he assured them, standing firmly in the middle of the path.

"And what do you want?" Bently asked.

"Again, payment. But… I've always wanted a heart," he said a bit sadly, touching the part of his metal body where his heart should be.

"Um… erm…" Bently stuttered. He couldn't think of anything to give the Tin Man.

"Here," said Pansy. She reached inside Bently and pulled out the elf light. "This is bright and warm, like a heart should be. Put it inside of you and you'll be like it soon." The Tin Man opened up his hollow chest and Pansy set the light inside him carefully.

"Thank you," said the Tin Man, close to tears. "I can feel it warming me already."

They continued on quickly so that they wouldn't get attacked by any more trees.

"What did you do that for?" Bently hissed at Pansy.

"Well, as long as it's working, Oz is lit, right?" she said. "And what better place to keep it safe than right under Meyer's nose?"

"I guess," Bently grunted. But he questioned what they hell had happened to her in the Blank World.

They continued down the road. The forest got wilder and denser as they went. Bently thought that they had walked for hours, and yet, the light hadn't changed at all.

"Do you guys get the feeling that… like, time isn't passing?" he asked the others.

Meggie nodded. "I've felt like that too. Maybe it's like in Narnia where the time was messed up."

"Yeah, I bet that's what happened," agreed Lucy.

Then, there was a sudden, half-hearted snarl, and out of the bushes leapt the Lion. He didn't look very fierce, but you could tell he was trying.

"You c-can't pass me!" the Lion stuttered out. "I—oh, this is useless."

"What would you like?" Bently asked, almost bored.

"I… I want to be braver. I want to be able to stand up to Meyer."

"Here," said King, and from inside his jacket, he pulled out the Subtle Knife. "This knife can cut through anything. You'll feel very brave with it."

"R-really?" the Lion asked, accepting the knife. He held it in his paw, looking at it in wonder. "I feel like I could take on an army!" he cheered.

"Good."

"Thank you! You can pass, I don't work for _her_ anymore," said the Lion cheerfully, and he walked back into the bushes.

"Well, that was easy," commented Lucy as the continued on.

"How did you get that?" Bently asked King.

"Will gave it to me while you were busy writing Pansy back in. He thought we might need it, and it turns out he was right," said King.

To Bently, it was another good hour before they were finally out of the forest. They stood on the edge of a field of flowers, and across it rose a sparkling green city in the distance. The city was the brightest thing in Oz.

"There it is," said Meggie in wonder. "The Emerald City."

* * *

**Ah-ha! Item significance! ::shifty:**


	25. The Emerald Chickens And City

"Alright, group meeting," said Bently, and they all stood in a circle facing each other. "This is going to be really dangerous. It's the end of the road, but we're not out of the woods yet. At least, not the metaphorical ones," he added when Pansy pointed to the woods just behind them with a smirk.

"Meyer is in there. I'm betting she's taken over the Wizard's throne room. We need to get through undetected, and well, everyone we've met so far who's been under her power knows who we are. Pansy, any suggestions?"

"I suppose we could do some minor Transfiguration on our faces and cloths, maybe change our ages and heights," she said. "I could do that."

"Would you please? I think being disguised will help a lot."

And so Pansy went to work, waiving her wand all around each of them and muttering incantations. When she was finished, everyone was quite beyond recognition.

Meggie was a lot older, and she wore a plain dress now with a bag over her shoulder which contained her books. Her hair was long, strawberry blonde, and straight, flowing around her. She held Lucy's hand, who had been shrunk to look about nine, and also had red hair, her hair braided back tightly. King looked a lot younger, and wore more Oz-like cloths, and didn't have any glasses. Bently looked older and more Oz-y too, and his red-brown hair was almost black and a lot longer. His cloak had been transformed into a jacket that had a secret pocket right where the one in his cloak had been. As for Pansy, she looked like she could have been Bently's twin sister, and wore a simple light green dress.

"Alright, I don't know how long these will last, so let's get going," she said, and they set off through the field of flowers.

It was a long and slow walk. The heat was unbelievable, and the smell of flowers was so strong Bently's head was aching, but at least there weren't any chickens. Or if there were, they were the colour of the flowers and silent, because Bently didn't see or hear any.

Finally, they got to the gates. There wasn't a guard, so they simply walked inside.

Everything was ridiculously bright green. It seemed like all the colour in Oz had been concentrated into the Emerald City, and now there was an overflow of colour, like when you spill your paints in art class and they end up making bright green.

They walked cautiously. They tried not to make any eye contact with people, and didn't talk, because Bently recognized the look in these people's eyes; they had been zombie-fied.

And once again, there were freaking chickens everywhere, although these chickens were all white and green. It drove Bently mad, making him really, _really _want to know what was up with all the chickens.

But as they walked, he noticed that some of the zombies were following them. "I'll distract them," King whispered, and he stopped and turned around.

"Hey you! Yeah, you, wearing green, what is that? Did your grandma barf when she was knitting you that sweater and forget to clean it?"

All the zombies near them looked at King and started for him. He ran through a hole in them and they followed. Bently and the girls continued on, silently. '_I hope they don't catch him,_' he thought.

They wound down the streets. Bently was leading them to the tallest point in the city, where he hoped the Wizard's throne and Meyer were. They reached a square that looked like it had been a market and stopped. It was full of zombies.

"I have an idea," Meggie muttered, pulling a book from her bag. "Go, I'll distract them." She walked to the middle of the square and found a stool she could stand on. "Hey everyone! It's story time!" she called out. The zombies started walking towards her and Bently lead Lucy and Pansy out of the square and as far away as possible.

"She's going to read them out," Bently explained in a voice barely above a whisper. "I think." Lucy and Pansy nodded, and they moved on faster.

They were getting closer to the tall building in the city. Bently's eyes were getting tired and starting to play tricks on him from all the green around him. They didn't see as many zombies after they left the square.

They approached the steps and gates to the Wizard's palace when they were met by another army of zombies. "I've got this one," said Lucy, and she walked near the zombies. Then she started dancing, a kind of Irish jig. The zombies looked at her curiously for a moment before making awkward stiff movements in an attempt to dance with her. Smiling in amusement, Bently and Pansy snuck around the mob and into the palace.

It was darker in here, and there was a huge rustling noise. Pansy and Bently lit their wands, but as soon as they did, they were attacked by millions of sharp beaks and flapping wings. The room was filled with chickens.

"God damn it! Why are these freaking things here anyways?" Bently cried out, exasperated.

"I don't know! FLIPENDO!" Pansy yelled, blasting a wave of chickens backwards. "We need to fight them to the door!"

And so with magic, mainly Flipendo and Incendio, the pair fought their way across the front hall to the doors in the back. But when Bently tried them, he found them locked.

"Figures," he said, wiping blood off his cheek. "We need to time this. I'll unlock if you hold them off for a moment."

"Right."

"One, two,_ three! _Alohomora!"

"Flipendo!"

Chickens were blasted back with squawks and bird-screams as Pansy and Bently slipped into the hallway. "Colloportus!" Pansy said, locking the door. They heard many chickens throw themselves against the door, trying to get to them, but they couldn't get the door open. Soon, the noise died down.

"Well, that was an adventure," said Pansy, still panting slightly. They lit their wand tips and continued down the dark passageway.

* * *

**In case you're wondering, my cousin challenged me to add chickens somehow while I was writing this. So I did.**

**yellow14, you make my life. Seriously. :D**


	26. The Game

The next door wasn't locked. And out from under the crack at the bottom came glowing pink and green lights. Bently rested his hand against the door. "Ready?" he asked Pansy.

She nodded her head. They both held their wands at the ready and threw the doors open.

Inside was a huge room with hundreds of green pipes traveling the height of the walls. The pink and green lights radiated from these mysteriously – everything else was dark. And in the middle sat a woman in the Wizard's emerald throne, wearing a knee length grey skirt and a simple white top, with her hair wavy and her bangs slightly side-swept and her lips graced with bright pink lipstick. It was Stephanie Meyer.

"So McQuinn, you're finally here," she said, standing. She set her laptop to the side of her and took a few steps towards them. "I was wondering if you'd ever make it."

"'Course I would. Your fairies aren't that hard to kill, actually," said Bently. His hand was itching for the sword.

"Oh, you're so funny, McQuinn, here with your little girlfriend. I see you wrote her out of the Blank World. How romantic," Meyer cooed.

Pansy made a face. "You're a lunatic. How in the world did a crazy banshee like you get so powerful?"

"Oh my darling, it was all very easy," Meyer began, smiling creepily. "Everyone thinks I don't have power. But really, I have a lot. You see, alone I might not be powerful enough, but my fans… my fans all like to write too. So I simply asked them to write about the worlds I wanted to destroy first."

"You… you… but why?" asked Bently, not being able to think of any good insults at the moment. "Why would you do this?"

"Why?" Meyer asked, her brown eyes flashing as she cackled in laughter. "_Why?_ Because I'm sick and tired of people being mean to me!" Her voice seemed to sound like that of a twelve-year-old. "I hate, hate, _hate_ going online every day to see people saying bad things about me 'Oh look, Stephanie Meyer can't write!' 'Yeah, that dumb bitch doesn't know the eraser from the point on a pencil!' 'She should leave love stories to the professionals!'"

Meyer's breathing was getting steadily more ragged. She was crazier than Bently thought.

"Well, I'm done with that now! I'm here to show the world that _I am_ a good author! _I am_ the best romance writer! That _I am the best writer the world has ever seen!_ _And no little boy and his girlfriend are going to stop me!_"

Bently pulled out the sword as Meyer went for her laptop. Bently ran after her, swinging the sword. Pansy started shooting spells, but they didn't seem to work at all.

"Fools!" Meyer cackled. "Your magic and amulets won't work here! _I am invincible!_"

Bently brought the sword down on Meyer's computer. She screamed and there was an electrical sound, and then Bently felt electricity coursing through him. He dropped the sword and fell to the ground, twitching in uncontrollable spasms. He heard Pansy screaming and Meyer laughing maniacally. Then his eyes shut tight, and he dropped into unconsciousness.

When Bently came to, he felt awful. Like someone had taken a hot iron and used it on his insides. Especially his sword arm. It felt completely barbequed.

"Bently! Wake up!"

That was Meggie's voice. He glanced up to where he thought she was with his eyes half open. She, Pansy, Lucy, and King were all there, chained to the wall.

"_Wake up!_"

"Immawake, Meggie," Bently slurred, trying to sit up. Pain shot up his injured arm, and of course, it just _had_ to be his freaking right arm. Everything in the world seemed to be going wrong with that arm.

"Well McQuinn, it looks like this is it."

Meyer was standing over him, holding his notebook and pen. "The only things in the world, in the _universe_, that could kill me are these. And I think they'll go away now." Meyer shredded the notebook in front of his eyes and snapped the pen in half.

"Now all I have to do is send you all to the Blank World, and it's bye bye, Bently McQuinn and Friends."

"Not so fast."

Bently stood, and cleared his mind. This was his last hope. He had to try.

"_Stephanie thought she had won. But she forgot one thing._"

Bently's voice sounded different. It sounded more lyrical like when Meggie read.

"_She forgot what true writers can do. True writers don't need a pen or pencil. True writers don't need paper or a computer. True writers can dream the words, and speak the words. True writers make their reality in their imaginations._"

"No," Meyer whispered, too stunned to do anything.

"_And this is what Stephanie Meyer forgot. She wasn't a true writer, and Bently McQuinn was. 'I BANISH YOU!' Bently yelled at the top of his lungs. 'I BANISH YOU FROM THE LITERARY WORLD FOR ALL ETERNITY! NOTHING YOU EVER WRITE AGAIN WILL COME ALIVE, OR OBEY YOU! I BREAK YOUR POWER, STEPHANIE MEYER!'_"

Meyer screamed. A light was emitting from her chest, and it swallowed her, leaving nothing but the echo of her pain and failure.

"Stephanie Meyer, you just lost The Game."

* * *

**Yes, and so did all of you xDDD**

**20 Brownie points shall be awarded to the person who can point out the James Bond quote/reference.**

**Only two more chapters!**


	27. The End Of All Things

"_Ding, dong, the witch is dead, hi-dee-ho, the witch is dead!_"

The rousing chorus of this song could be heard all throughout the Emerald City.

The chickens were gone, the people of Oz had been un-zombie-fied, the lights were all back on, and everything was back to its normal colour.

"Bently, we did it!" yelled Meggie, excited, over the crowd as they stood on the steps of the Wizard's palace.

"Yeah," said Bently, grinning. "WE FREAKING DID IT!"

"We banished Meyer forever!" added Lucy.

"And killed all the fairy vampires!" shouted Pansy.

"And we have a new master writer," said King with a smile.

"Yes, yes we do indeed."

Bently had no idea where this voice came from. The crowd went silent and parted, and through it walked Albus Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore!" said Bently and Pansy at the same time, and they both knelt, Bently with Gryffindor's Sword in front of him. His arm had been healed by Lucy, hopefully for the last time, and it held the sword with pride.

"Rise, children," said Dumbledore. "Bently, on behalf of the entire world of literature, I cannot possibly thank you enough."

Bently rose and looked at Dumbledore. His blue eyes were twinkling behind his half-moon glasses. "Well, erm, you know… no problem," said Bently awkwardly. He really didn't know what to say to his favorite professor. "Oh! Professor! I used your office when I wrote Pansy back from the Blank World, and I… sort of made a mess," he confessed, turning a little pink.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Not a problem, my dear boy. And I would like to reward you, although it may seem trivial compared to what you've already done… give me your right hand, Bently."

Bently held up his maimed hand. It had been electrocuted, burned, and a finger and a good part of it cut off. Dumbledore handled it gingerly, and Bently felt insecure giving Dumbledore his gimp hand.

"For your services to the literary world, Bently, I will grant you your hand, full and complete."

"Really, sir?"

Dumbledore nodded. Bently was astonished. Could he really do that?

"If you would like, Bently."

Bently was silent for a moment. "No," he finally said. "No, I'll pass."

"You will, will you?"

"Yes," said Bently, nodding firmly. "It's a reminder of everything I've been through. Although, if you could make something… so that the Muggles don't notice?"

Dumbledore chuckled lightly again. "Good choice, Bently. Indeed I shall." He waved his wand, and the missing part of Bently's hand filled itself in with a pale white replica of that section of his hand. "Only when you come to the literary world will it shine. In your world, it will look and function like a normal finger, but it won't truly be."

Bently examined it, thrilled. "Thank you, Professor Dumbledore."

Dumbledore nodded to him slightly, and then turned to Pansy. "For you, Pansy Parkinson, you have shown bravery and skill beyond what anyone expected of you. You will receive an award for special services to the school, and I've heard the Ministry is looking for someone to lead their Cross-Dimension Affairs office."

Pansy's jaw dropped a bit. "R-really, Professor?"

"I wouldn't lie," he said a bit gravely. Pansy swallowed and nodded. "As for the other three of you, there is no reward I can give you, but perhaps your own people can."

"That's good enough for me," said Lucy. "Although, I would like to go home now."

"So would I," added Meggie. "I miss Mo."

"When you are ready, I will send you home."

The five companions stood looking at each other awkwardly for a moment. "Well, I guess this is it," said Pansy, breaking the silence. "Good bye, everyone. It was, well, interesting, to say the least." Everyone smiled at her.

"Good luck at the Ministry, Pansy," added Meggie.

"Thanks," she replied. She looked at Bently, then gave him a quick hug. "Bye, Lightning McQueen."

"Bye Pansy. Come get me if the Crazy ever show up again," Bently joked.

She smiled, and then turned on the spot. She was gone.

"Looks like it's me next, then," said Lucy. She gave everyone a hug. "I'm going to miss all of you." She was getting teary, along with Meggie. "Bently, try not to hurt yourself anymore, I won't be around to heal you," she reminded him with a weak laugh.

"I'll try not to, but you know me," Bently said, pulling her into a tight hug.

She smiled again, wiped some tears from her eyes, and when she turned, she too was gone.

"Me now," Meggie said, barely able to control her tears. "It's been a wild ride."

"Sure has been," Bently agreed, hugging her. "Read lots of books, okay?"

"And you write a lot of them," Meggie replied. Then she was gone too.

Now it was just King and Bently. They shook hands as Bently fought back some tears. "Bently, you're going to do great things," King said, smiling. It made his eyes wrinkle up.

"You'd better keep writing, King, or else things might fall apart again."

They turned to Dumbledore, who smiled. "Just turn on the spot, like you're Apparating, and you'll go home."

King did so, and was gone. Bently was ready to go, too. He had had enough adventures for now.

"Goodbye, Professor Dumbledore."

"Goodbye, Bently."

And he turned on the spot and left Oz far behind.

"I'll take Rothberg."

Bently opened his eyes to find himself in the gym at school. In his original cloths, without a sword at his waist or a notebook and pen in a hidden pocket.

"Aidan, I guess," said Robert Downs.

Bently looked down at his right hand. It was whole, but the flesh he had gotten back was slightly lighter than the rest of his hand.

"That's not fair! I don't want to be stuck with the Fairy Boy!" called out Landon angrily.

"Well, I don't want him either!" Robert yelled back.

This was Bently's cue. He looked up at Russell, who looked unsure.

Russell spoke up. "Hey, Robert, Bent can just play with us…"

Robert rounded on him angrily. "Shut up Russell, this is my team, not yours."

"Boys, stop arguing!" shouted Coach Dunbar. "Bently, just join Robert's team and let's play!"

They went to their assigned half of the gym, but instead of standing over with Russell on the sidelines, Bently took up a position in the middle of their section.

"What do you think you're doing, Fairy Boy?" asked Robert snidely.

"Playing dodge ball," replied Bently coolly. Robert didn't say anything back, but he did narrow his eyes at Bently.

The game started, and Bently's reflexes he had built over however long he had been on his crazy-ass adventure kicked in. He got more people out on the other team than any other person on his team did, including Landon. Landon's face was one of pure shock when Bently nailed him in the stomach with the dodge ball.

"Time! Robert's team wins!"

They all stopped, panting, except for Bently. He was standing firmly, smirking. Russell rushed up to him. "Dude! I didn't know you could play dodge ball!"

"A few months ago, I couldn't," said Bently mysteriously, and he left to go change.

He left the locker rooms and started for Mrs. Grist's room to serve his detention. "There you are, McQuinn, sit down and finish taking notes," she barked at him from over her desk when he entered. He sat down without question and pulled out a notebook and pen from his bag. But when he opened it up and looked at the page for a few moments, he didn't want to take notes. He wanted to write. And so he did, his hand racing across the page until the bell rang that ended lunch.

"_It was a sunny day, but not too sunny. More like one of those mediocre sunny days, ones that only normal things happen on. But today was a day that was far from a normal one…_"


	28. Epilogue

**Fifteen Years Later**

Bently McQuinn yawned as he shuffled out to his mailbox. His wife had already left for work, and he was expecting a package today. Inside, he found what he was looking for; a small box, like one that would fit a good-sized book in it.

He flipped the flag on the mailbox down and went back inside. He made himself a fresh cup of coffee and sat down at the round kitchen table and began opening the package. It was from his agent, Hailey Holmes. "_Congrats Bent, it's in the Top Five of the NY Times list already. ~Hailey,_" read the card. Inside was his latest book, _Night Watchers._

He smiled and turned it over. On the back was the summary and a small picture of himself. It was surreal, seeing himself on the back of a book cover, seeing his name in the book shop windows, having thousands, perhaps millions, of people reading his words.

His phone buzzed noisily against the table. He picked it up and flipped it open. _Meeting with King today at the Raven Café, one o'clock,_ it reminded him. Nodding, he closed his phone and took a sip of his coffee.

"Long time no see, partner."

Bently sat down across from Stephen King at the small café where he had spent a lot of time writing and dreaming of his adventures in the literary world.

"How are you, King?"

King was quite a bit more aged since Bently had last seen him. But he was still writing strong. In fact, it was his latest book that was at the number one spot on the New York Times best-seller list.

"I'm good, yourself? I saw that _Night Watchers_ hit number five last night."

"Yeah, it did," said Bently with a smile. "I'm good. I'm going to be a father in three months time."

"Really? Congratulations," said King, raising his glass of water to Bently.

"So, was this just a random meeting?" Bently asked after a bit of silence.

"Certainly not, I have something for you."

King reached down and pulled out a notebook from his bag and set it on the table. Bently snorted.

"Like I need more of these, King."

"It's not just any notebook, Bently. It's like the one Meggie used. You can communicate with people from the literary world with it."

Bently pulled it closer to himself in wonder. "Thanks King!"

"No problem," King replied mysteriously.

Bently ran his fingers over the cover. Could this be it? His chance to go back to the literary world and see everyone he had met there?

He flipped open the cover and found to his surprise a line of text penned neatly on the first page. Bently could tell that it was none other than Albus Dumbledore's from the way it looped. And he smiled when he read it.

"_Just in case._"

**The End**

* * *

**And so ends the great journey of Bently McQuinn!**

**The following belong to their respected owners:  
Harry Potter, Twilight, Inkheart, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicals of Narnia, Robot Unicorn Attack, His Dark Materials, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd, REPO! The Genetic Opera, Maximum Ride, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Alice In Wonderland, Wicked, The Wizard Of Oz, The Game, Stephanie Meyer, Stephen King, and Edgar Allan Poe. **

**Thanks for reading,  
~Icamane**


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